Fon Master Sync
by EisenKoubu
Summary: This story was conceived with a question: What if the man who would become Sync the Tempest was chosen to be Fon Master instead? And what if Arietta found out that Ion was not the same Ion she knew? Sync X Arietta, Rated T for action violence and blood.
1. Part 1 : Prologue of a Sickly Fon Master

I hear a sound.

It is a strange sound, one that I've never heard before. It seems to get higher for a while, then down, then up again. This pattern continues until I hear silence.

This sound pleases me. It is pleasurable to listen to, here in this void without light, where I have no form nor whither to go. If I could choose, I would stay here forever.

But one day, the sound stopped. I heard a new sound, a voice, instead.

_You are needed...You will change the world in ways others cannot imagine..._

I then felt a violent pull in whatever direction was down. I spiraled downward in this formless void, as the voice repeated itself once more...I lost all sense of direction, then my sense of...hearing...then...my...memories...

* * *

My vision is black. I cannot see where I am, but I can most definitely hear what is going on. The dripping of water, the breathing of several people, even the crawling of tiny insects were all within my range of hearing.

"...Are the subjects ready?"

"All seven are ready for inspection, Fon Master. Please judge them to your heart's content."

"Excellent."

I hear new sounds. One is soft, yet monotone, and more frightening than pleasing. The other was gruff, yet somewhat friendly, although I think what these people were talking about was anything but so.

"This one looks monstrous. It will have to be disposed of."

The sound of footsteps started getting louder. I couldn't get away, since I couldn't move or feel anything.

"This one too."

The sound closes in on me. I try to shield myself in fear.

"This one looks human, but it still doesn't look much like me."

"How so?"

"His hair is brushed the wrong way, and it's too long. Not to mention it has scars over his entire body."

"Why not cut his hair? The scars were the result of an experiment to try and make him more powerful than you, Fon Master. Unfortunately, the Synchro Level was a problem. However, you could pass it off as an after-effect of the sickness."

"Hmm...Your argument is reasonable, but I think I should take a good look at the rest of the replicas before I make my decision."

The footsteps got softer as they moved further away. I breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.

"This one looks a little better, but that arm..."

"I'm afraid it can't be replicated. We could use fontech, but there is a good chance the replica might reject it."

"We can't take that chance. Dispose of it."

The sound became softer than last time.

"Now you're starting to look...SWEET YULIA! What is up with that face?"

Unfortunately, a scream of disgust began to make me fear for my life.

"I used a bit too many fourth fonons. It caused the deformity."

"GET RID OF IT!"

The sound got softer, but the yelling still hurt my ears. I could hear tiny spiders scatter as the voice echoed across the room. The sound of sweat running down someone's face rang out in my ears. I still had no idea what was going on, but I was pretty sure someone other than me was going to go somewhere bad.

"Now this one is perfect! How are the power levels?"

"Slightly less powerful than the Fon Master."

"That's negligible. I think we have a winner."

"If you may, Fon Master, please examine the last one."

"...Fine."

I heard the sound again as the Fon Master moved further away from me.

"This one looks exactly the same. What are the power levels?"

"Slightly lower than the last one, but it has a greater capacity to learn."

"Hmm...I might consider this one, but there can only be one Fon Master."

"I will order my men to remove the flawed replicas, and we will choose between the three."

I heard many sounds after that, many of which were frightening. I was afraid, annoyed even. What happened to that pleasant sound? Where were all these new sounds coming from? What was going to happen to me? Who was this Fon Master, and why were we being selected to replace him?

The sounds eventually died down, and the monotone sound returned. It was coming close.

"So which will it be, Fon Master?"

"It's a troublesome choice. I want people to be convinced that something happened to me, something that would convince Arietta that I am not dying."

"Fon Master, may I suggest the middle replica?"

"No. He's too perfect, but at the same time..."

"What are you planning to accomplish, Fon Master?"

"What else? The destruction of the Score. You desire that too, don't you, Van?"

Chills went up my spine as the two spoke. My ears had been attuned to every sound in the room, from the slightest trickle of water to the slightest breath of the men in the room. My ears hurt, and my mind split. It was enough to drive anyone insane.

"Guards! One of the replicas has broken loose!"

I still could not see anything, but I could hear the footsteps of people coming in. As they came, I fought back at them, but it was only a matter of time before they managed to restrain me.

"Don't hurt him!"

I could hear the shuffling of one of the two men who was speaking. I could feel the aura of this person as he closed in on my face.

"I like this one's attitude. He shall be the one to replace me."

He put his hand on my forehead, and I began once again to lose my senses, but not before I heard one more voice, this time speaking in a direction away from me.

"Do what you will with the rest, Van..."

* * *

Fon Master Sync: a Tales of the Abyss Fanfiction

* * *

"Ion, wake up. Master Tritheim demands to see you at once."

I felt so sleepy...

"ION!"

The voice shook my eardrums. I hated that voice more than anything, so why did it have to belong to her?

"Alright, alright."

I slowly slumped out of bed and stood up, drowsy and swerving like a drunkard. The stone floor was cold, and I could hear the crack of Fourth Fonons as my warm feet touched the freezing floor. I stretched my arms, and rubbed my eyes wearily. I hated the morning, and I especially hated it when Tritheim demanded me to go to new places that I've never been to before to do the most mundane of tasks. Last week, I had to go to St. Binah because the rappigs had gone missing. The week before, I had to exorcise spirits in Choral Castle. The week before that, I had to investigate weird sightings in Mt. Zaleho. And anytime I was not outside, I was reading the Score.

That stupid Score...Not only did it tire me to read the thing over and over again, but the people who asked me to read it inquired of the stupidest and most redundant things: what to wear, what to eat for meals...I think I even met one guy who asked me when would be a good time for a Number 2. The people here in Daath disgusted me.

Even though I've been alive fourteen years, with twelve years amnesia from the sickness along with these nasty scars, I was not content with my life as the Fon Master. Still, the only reason I didn't up and quit was because of Mohs. To me, he was the father I never had. He always watched over me and guided me, raising me like a son. I looked up to the Grand Maestro, and hoped that I could be as great as him someday.

I approached my wardrobe and pulled out a cloth robe, baby blue in color with the sleeves and vest colored teal green. It was quite easy to slip on, as was the gold wireframe slippers and teal headdress. Looking in the mirror, I wondered if the Order would ever update the Fon Master's uniform. If they were going to pull in more followers, maybe having a thick dark green jumpsuit with black boots and a red scarf...no, a white scarf, would excite the masses. I could do without the girly tiara, too.

As I was tying up my hair, I inquired the messenger of Mohs' whereabouts.

"He seems to have headed off to Baticul to speak with the king."

I sighed, feeling rather tired of Mohs' constant diplomatic travels. Then again, I travel more often than he does.

"Oh, that."

"But if you're asking if he's fine, I can assure you he is brighter than the noonday sun!"

I was about ready to rip this girl's head apart from her body, but if Mohs were here, he would say that it would be unlike the Fon Master to do so. Whatever, I was about finished with my hair anyway. Time to greet the moron with a curtsey.

"Gooooood morning, Ion! You look fine today."

That childish face, those massive black pigtails, that sugar-coated moe complexion...it made me want to vomit. As much as I wish to respect Mohs' wishes, I hated some of the decisions he makes for me sometimes. This...Anise person...is one of them.

"...Just take me to Tritheim."

"At your command, Fon Master."

At least I had the advantage of being the Fon Master. People were following my every order without question, like a prince to his underlings. I loved it!

* * *

Walking on the soft, brown-carpeted floor of the chapel induced creaks and ruffles that were quite audible to my ears. As I shuffled towards Tritheim's chair, I began to think of using thicker earplugs.

"Good morning, Fon Master. I pray that you slept well."

He stood up and we exchanged greetings, as per the custom of the Order. I didn't mind these too much, even if they did seem to get old after a while. What I was really concerned about was what my mission was today.

"Fon Master, there is distress in Engeve."

I had not heard of that place before.

"Engeve?"

"It is a village on the southern end of Malkuth. There have been reports of an outbreak of monsters stealing food from their storehouses in the night. We know your injuries impede your travel..."

In actuality, they didn't. I could move around just fine. I do not know how they managed to think my scars hindered my movement like some sort of cripple, but I did not mind it. I let Tritheim continue.

"...and the government of Malkuth is also worried about the outbreak, so they have provided an escort."

An escort?! What was the big idea? The Fon Master can go wherever he chooses because he is the all-powerful Fon Master, so he doesn't need an escort. I made a desperate attempt to hide my anger as I inquired of Tritheim.

"Who is this escort?"

"Am I intruding?"

An elegant voice came from behind me. I turned around to see a Malkuth general, quite tall, with dirty blonde hair and red eyes shielded by a pair of glasses. His uniform, mostly blue with brass buttons and white stripes on the outlines, genuinely indicated that he was indeed from Malkuth. And that belt...

"No, you're just in time, Colonel. Come on in."

That belt looked familiar.

"Who is this man?"

"This is Colonel Jade Curtiss, of the Malkuth Armed Forces Intelligence Branch. He is a capable fonist, and he has been selected to escort the Fon Master to Engeve."

Fonists...I had both seen and heard fonic artes before, in the soldier's training ground below the Cathedral. They were loud, and awesome to look at. If this man was a fonist...

"You're not going to kill me, are you?"

"That would defeat the purpose of escorting you, Fon Master. Nonetheless, if you wish me to kill you, I will not hesitate to carry out the Fon Master's orders."

Loyal to a fault, huh? I should watch my words.

"When do we leave?"

Jade stood up straight and adjusted his glasses. I still could not put my finger on that belt...

"When the Fon Master wishes."

At least I am still the Fon Master. I make a smirk in the Colonel's direction.

"Then let us depart."

Before I could leave, Anise grabs my sleeve and hands me my staff.

"Ion, you forgot your staff again."

I shake my head, still smirking.

"I don't need it, Anise. I have this fonist by my side."

"Make sure Anise goes with you, Fon Master."

I turn to Tritheim with a devilish smirk.

"I'd rather she stay behind for this one."

"But, Fon Master..."

"Don't make me raise my voice."

A bit of my contained anger escaped my tongue. In fear, Tritheim obeyed my command.

"Y-yes, of course, Fon Master. Anise, stay here."

"Are you asking me to stop doing my job, Master Tritheim? You know Mohs wouldn't approve of that."

Darn it, that stupid smirk of hers. And why does she have to bring up Mohs? She gets people every time with that argument. I sigh and speak up in a rough voice.

"Fine, you can come. Just don't hover over me."

"Okay~!"

Enthusiastically, Anise skips over to my side as we leave the cathedral. This is going to be a long trip.

* * *

"Not another village..."

We eventually make it to Engeve and talk to the Mayor, who looks, oddly enough, like a woman in her mid-30's. I feel utterly disgusted with the loud noises and putrid smells, but choose to keep it to myself for the most part, since Mohs told me to respect people's standards of living.

Jade, noticing my grief, tries comforting me.

"It's for a good cause, Ion. We have to help people in need."

"But why here, when it could be in Grand Chokmah or something?"

"We won't be here very long, Fon Master. We just need to know who the offenders are and then kill them."

If fighting and death are involved, I want in.

"Sounds like a plan."

After a while of Jade droning about military tactics to the mayor, I decide to sneak into the storehouse and solve the problem myself. I tell Anise I need to rest at the inn, which she seems to believe, at least until I hear her shrill voice yelling at me.

"Ion! Open up!"

Dang it. Anise followed me again. I need to find the evidence before someone notices. Looking around hurriedly, I come across a small bit of fluff.

"It's...Cheagle fur?!"

My studies as a Fon Master required extensive knowledge of sacred animals. The Cheagle was the one I studied the most, and I was fascinated by them. I had never met one in person, but maybe this would kill two birds with one stone.

"Ion!"

Now I just need to shut the brat up. I open the door to an accidental fist in the face. I fall backward, catching myself before my head could hit the cold stone floor. Anise apologizes as I rubbed my forehead, where she punched me.

"Oh, sorry, Ion!"

"That's...coming out of your pay..."

Just then, we hear a loud noise coming from outside. I stand up as quickly as I could, which is not very quick given my injuries.

"Anise, I have evidence!"

"Is that what you were doing in there? You should have told me!"

"Keep it down. We need to show this fur to the Mayor."

"Okay."

We walk in just in time for Jade to finish one of his long speeches to a bunch of villagers. Two of them seem to stand out: a redheaded, long-haired weirdo wearing a strange white shirt stumbled on the floor, and a brown-haired woman with equally-brown clothing who seemed to be assisting the weird guy. They must be with the Order or something, because I don't see too many people with Guardians, let alone villagers like him.

"...I can assure you that these two are not with them."

"Hey, Jade! I have evidence!"

I wave in Jade's direction. The Mayor(ess) notices my presence and spake respectfully.

"Fon Master Ion..."

"Forgive my curiosity, but I had to check the scene of the crime. I found this in a corner of the room."

I hand the mayor my evidence. Her eyes widened.

"This is fur from a sacred Cheagle."

"So you know about Cheagles? My best guess is they are your thieves."

The weirdo spoke something, but all I could hear in that direction is gibberish in a super nasally voice. The woman rebuked the weirdo, which I am sincerely grateful for. I liked this woman already. She seems a nice choice for this weirdo's Guardian.

After a bunch of apologies from the village, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing I am finally able to leave the village. Thank Lorelei. Anise walks a short distance away from me. She was never much of a clingy girl, from the moment she became my Guardian. I was told that I had a different Fon Master Guardian before I was stricken with illness, but no one, not even Anise, ever told me anything about her, even when I asked. I guess she is not all that important, anyway.

We make it back to the Tartarus outside. Anise politely and gently escorts me (I must say, she's a heavy lifter) to my quarters. After wiping the sweat off her brow (which was from the ship's heating unit, not from carrying me), she sit down in the bunk above me. I always insist on sleeping in the bottom bunk, since it was closer to the ground. I decide to have a meaningless conversation while I wait to doze off.

"...Hey, Anise."

"...What is it, Ion?"

"Why did you become my Fon Master Guardian?"

"...Mohs put me in the position."

Figures. Mohs pretty much decides everything in the Order, since his job is basically "Vice Fon Master". I started calling the shots around a couple months ago, and I love every minute of it. He will not let me fire Anise, though. I did not know why until now.

"...Why are you always so protective of me?"

"That's my job, isn't it?"

"Isn't there another reason?"

"...No."

"So if I fired you now, you wouldn't object to it?"

She stops speaking for a moment. It seems she believed me when I implied that I could fire her at any time, when I really cannot. The silence was awkward, but it ended with a snore. SHE FELL ASLEEP. Dear Yulia, she is stupid.

Well, I do not feel tired. Maybe I can sneak out without her noticing.

* * *

I slowly close the door of my quarters behind me, Anise still sleeping soundly. I crouch and slowly crawl down the hallway.

In the two years since I was healed, I have learned much in the art of sneaking. I had escaped from my room several times by exploiting the weaknesses of others and finding hidden entrances. Needless to say, I am about as close to a ninja as my self-teaching can get me.

I stop near a staircase, where I hear two guards having a conversation.

"...That meeting with the mayor...he was going to use explosives...on the forest..."

Explosives? In the forest? The Cheagle Forest? I cannot let that happen. I still need to meet those precious Cheagles. I decide to sneak out of the Tartarus and save at least one of the Cheagles before they blow the whole thing up.

I sneak over to the escape chute in this hallway and slide down. Unfortunately, the ship was still moving, and the movement tossed me around the chute, causing one of my wounds to open up slightly. I scream in pain all the way down the rest of the drop.

Despite my wounds, I manage to walk over to the Cheagle Forest without much problem. I had never been in a forest before, so it was an odd feeling to be seeing clusters of trees above me as opposed to a few. Daath was surrounded by a forest, but I was told never to enter there. Seeing a forest in person was an amazing feeling.

I can hear sounds. Synchronized sounds. An orchestra of shrilly sounds that sounded rather pleasing. I made a nice stroll down the forest, listening to the sounds as I went.

I feel something get knocked against my feet.

"MIEU!"

I look down and behold a small creature. It boasted fur of a sky blue hue, with white-tipped ears, a white face and lower torso, and expressive blue eyes. It stood there for a second, paralyzed with fear. I look at it with awe, and bend down to get a closer look at it. It moved back as I did so, and ran away.

"Hey, where are you going? Come back!"

Immediately after that, the pleasant sounds disappear, and are replaced by deeper, more threatening sounds. I turn around to find a group of three ligers. They definitely did not look happy to see me.

"Well, crap. I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this."

I rip off my robe to reveal a dark green jumpsuit. I move myself in an offensive stance and raised my fists.

"Whenever you're ready."

The liger closest to me attacks first. It leaps directly for me. I move forward, grab its chest, and toss it ahead, into the trees. The next one pounces at me almost immediately after. I dodge the lunge, moving my feet in a particular pattern. When both of the remaining ligers charge at me at once, I activate the glyph on the ground.

"Turbulence!"

The air around the ligers swirls around, carrying the ligers up into the air and down onto the ground. They squirm around until they stop moving.

My ears are ringing from the intensity of the action. I limp over to my robe and put it back on. The fonic arte sapped my strength a bit, so I have to walk in a limp. I walk a little further until I hear a voice nearby.

"Look out!"

I turn around to see another pack of ligers charging toward me.

"You stupid monsters..."

I slam my hand on the ground. Every ounce of my body strained as several beams of light shot out of the ground, destroying the ligers. I fall unconscious amidst the action.

* * *

I remember...the sound of ringing.

I was in the training ground. I heard the sound of blades clashing and artes being cast. I wanted to see what was happening, so I inched closer and closer without anyone seeing.

I beheld a man, a tall man, with a large spiky gray ponytail and an equally gray coat with white stripes. He looked so cool with his sword and his fonic artes. I would watch him for hours on end until he would leave to do something. But I would always come back to watch him train.

Then he found me.

"What are you doing here, Fon Master?"

I had no words for him. I shook in fear. I regretted coming down here immediately. But then...he reached his hand out to me.

"The Fon Master shouldn't be afraid, even if what he did was naughty."

I stopped shaking, but I still feared for my life.

"What are you here for?"

"..."

"Don't you know it's dangerous for someone as defenseless as you to be here? You could get hurt."

"Master Van!"

The guards come running down the stairs.

"We were told the Fon Master might be here."

"You were correct. I found him right here."

"Sir, we will take him back to his room at once."

"See to it he doesn't get hurt."

"Yes, sir!"

As I am dragged up the stairs, I continue to watch him as he returns to his practice.

* * *

I awake in what looks to be a shelter made of the hollow inside of a tree. I see myself surrounded by Cheagles and someone tending to my wounds. When I fully regain my senses, I perceive that that weirdo's Guardian from the village is here.

"Wh...where am I?"

The woman spoke in a soft, yet monotone voice.

"You're in a safe place."

"Who...are you?"

"My name is Tear. We found you unconscious by the path, with blood all over your robe. Whatever attacked you left deep scars."

"Those...weren't from the attack..."

"What do you mean?"

"They told me...it was from the sickness..."

"Sickness? I don't know any sickness that does this kind of damage."

"Where...is that cheagle...I saw?"

"You're surrounded by them."

"I guessed that, lady. Where is that blue one?"

I heard a raspy voice come from somewhere else.

"Is the boy alright?"

A ragged-looking purple cheagle came up onto my crotch. It was holding a ring of a dull gold tint and a black stripe slanting around part of it.

"You must be their leader."

"I am the Cheagle Elder."

"Tear, are you done yet? These things are creeping me out."

Tear moved her head a little to one side to answer the obnoxious squawking of the weirdo.

"Just a little longer, Luke."

She turned back to me and continued to heal my wounds.

"These wounds are pretty serious. How do you manage to live with these?"

"I don't know...OW! Where on Auldrant are you touching?"

"Sorry."

"Be careful next time."

I turned to the cheagle elder.

"So, do you know any light blue cheagles?"

"Yes. There are quite a few here."

"Have any of them stolen in their life?"

A long silence fell. The weirdo broke the silence soon after.

"That's what I wanted to ask!"

* * *

The cheagle elder explained what happened. Apparently one of the Cheagles set fire to the forest, which caused the ligers to go on a rampage and demand a tribute of food as payback. So they stole from the people of Engeve to meet their demands.

"Who is this cheagle?"

"I will bring him to you."

The elder began to speak in Cheagle, summoning a cheagle of the same light blue fur that I encountered in the forest.

"This is him."

What a magnificient specimen, I thought to myself. The soft texture of the fur, its bright color, those expressive eyes...What a find! There must be some way that I could take this beautiful creature with me. I finally came up with one of the cleverest ideas I've had in six months.

"I demand that he accompany me to the liger's nest, so that I may try to calm them."

Tear objected quickly.

"Fon Master, you're still wounded."

"I'll be fine, Tear. You can leave this to me. Just get out of here before they explode."

The weirdo spoke up.

"What are you talking about?"

"Colonel Curtiss is placing explosives around the Forest to quickly and efficiently eliminate the Cheagles. I came here to spare at least one. If you don't leave now, you will be caught in the explosion."

"What about you?"

I made a smirk of confidence on my face.

"I can protect myself. I am the Fon Master, after all."

Like Tritheim, Tear did not believe me in the slightest.

"I don't believe that for a second. I'm coming with you."

The weirdo squawked a rebuttal of cowardice.

"Are you insane? We'll die!"

"We have to help Ion first. Didn't you say you wanted to figure out what was going on with the Cheagles? Now we have to help them!"

The weirdo went into a hissy fit about his own well-being, but to me it sounded like an angry duck.

"Regardless of whether you want to help me or not, I'm going now."

The Cheagle Elder's raspy voice begged me to stop.

"Wait."

"What, do you want to stop me now?"

"No. But you might need this. Give it to the young one."

The Cheagle Elder tossed me the ring he was wearing, and I gave it to the blue Cheagle. Immediately it began to speak.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Now let's go fix the mess you made."

I left the stumphouse and headed for the liger's den, the weirdo and his Guardian still arguing about their well-being.

* * *

As we walked, we took the time to introduce ourselves to each other in the cheeriest way possible.

"My name is Mieu! Pleased to meet you!"

"And my name is Ion, little cheagle."

"Master Ion, why are we going to the liger's den?"

"I have to save these Cheagles. You see, I love Cheagles so much. I've read about them in books, but I've never seen one before. You are probably the first Cheagle I've ever encountered in my life."

"Really? Why do you admire Cheagles?"

"...I suppose they remind me so much of myself. Small, weak, and seemingly helpless. But inside them is a hidden power that no one else knows about or appreciates."

"So Master is like a Cheagle?"

"I suppose, yes."

"That's awesome! I hope we can be good friends!"

"I hope so, too."

* * *

We finally arrived at the liger's den, where a large mother liger appeared before us. It roared at us ferociously. The sound was one of annoyance.

"What does it say?"

"She says to go away. The eggs haven't hatched yet."

"Tell it that we will go away if it will stop terrorizing the Cheagles."

Mieu promptly mieued at the liger what I had said. It responded with a hostile growl.

"She says she will tear us apart and feed us to our children."

"I guess I have no choice. Prepare for battle, Mieu!"

The Cheagle gave me a worried look.

"Mieu? But I can't fight!"

"Don't worry. I'll help you. Just do as I say."

"Okay!"

I tore off my robe and assumed my battle stance. The liger queen charged at me and I dodged. I clung onto her fur and climbed to her back in an attempt to wrangle the beast. I moved close to the head and pulled out Mieu.

"Fire!"

"MIEU~!"

A stream of flame erupted from Mieu's mouth and onto the liger queen's head. She made a shrilling screech, which obviously signified pain. She threw us off, but I managed to catch Mieu before landing.

"Safe!"

"Get ready, Mieu!"

I dashed forward and began to spin Mieu around wildly.

"Now, Mieu!"

Despite his dizzyness, Mieu blew flames that spun around me. I dashed faster towards the liger queen.

"Ignite, vicious gale! Cyclone Blaze!"

I sent the liger queen flying into the sky. Where she went, I hope she would never be able to come back.

Unfortunately for me, my strength was almost gone, and my wound was opening up again. It hurt a little less than the first time, but that wasn't saying much. I struggled to get my robe back on.

"Gah..."

"Master, is something wrong?"

"Heh heh...I'm losing blood..."

My vision began to blur...

* * *

I...I can hear...the ringing again.

I always found a way to come and watch him. He was so amazing to watch. I could only imagine how exhilarating it must have been for someone to fight this guy.

Nevertheless, he caught me again.

"You're here again? You have a knack for irresponsibility. What do you want?"

"Umm..."

"Speak up. Don't be shy."

"I like...watching you fight..."

"..."

He thought to himself for a minute.

"As creepy as that sounds, I admire your dedication. You could make a great warrior someday...if you weren't the Fon Master."

"Master Van!"

The guards came again.

"We're sorry for our failure to keep him secure."

"It's not me you should be reporting failure to. Nevertheless, Mohs will be highly displeased when I tell him. He may have you removed from your positions."

"...Sorry."

"Take him back to his room."

As I was dragged back up the stairs, I could have sworn he was talking to someone in an unseen corner. I needed to check that the next time I came down here.

* * *

I awoke on the Tartarus. I could hear the harmonic shimmer of healing artes. Someone was healing me. Was it Tear?

"...Don't move. You're injured."

It wasn't Tear. Who on earth was it?

"Who...are you?"

The woman I was gazing upon had a uniform similar to Jade's, except tailor-fitted to match her physique. That belt was missing, too. Her hair was down to her neck, and dirty blonde with strands of brown underneath, like she had been dyeing it. She answered my question with a smile.

"I'm one of the medical fonists on this ship. My name is Mira. Colonel Jade Curtiss found you unconscious and bleeding in the forest, along with two other people and a Cheagle we found in your belongings."

"Mieu...Where is he?"

"The Cheagle? Don't worry. He's safe. All the Cheagles are safe. They will be relocated to another forest, since they were forced to blow it up."

Thank Lorelei none of the Cheagles were blown up, but that forest...

"What a...waste. If I may make a suggestion...to Colonel Curtiss..."

"You need your injuries healed first. It will take a few minutes."

As she continued to heal my injuries, I began to think about where I could put the Cheagles. If I wanted to keep seeing them, I should probably put them close to home...

Suddenly, an alarm began to ring. I began to panic, and so did the nurse.

"What's happening?"

"Let me check!"

She ran over to one of the funnels next to the door.

"Medical Staff to Colonel Curtiss, what's going on?"

"I've received word that Griffins and Ligers are attacking the ship. Is Fon Master Ion healed yet?"

"Not quite. He will be shortly."

"Don't take too long. We can only fight them for so long."

Mira hurried back to take care of my injuries. Just then, the door opened and she was struck down by...

"Oracle soldiers? Here?"

"You're coming with us, Fon Master."

I tried to get away, but the pain in my chest was too unbearable.

"...I guess I have no choice."

I was dragged away by the soldiers. Just as we were about to enter the deck, the lights went out and the rumbling of the Tartarus stopped. It stunned the soldiers for a while, but didn't stop them from dragging me out to the deck. Man, being injured sucks.

"What's going on?"

A tall woman with blonde hair tied up into a crazy ponytail came up to see what was going on.

"Major Legretta, the lights went off and the Tartarus stopped moving all of a sudden!"

"It must have been the Necromancer's doing. It doesn't matter. We need to get Ion into the transport."

"Is that the only one of your problems?"

"You're one to talk, Fon Master. We have need of you."

"For your information...Legretta, was it? I was in the middle of healing. If you hadn't knocked out my healer, I would be in a much better condition to listen to your demands. Now I see no reason to even look at you."

"Do what you will. You will give in to our demands soon enough."

Our snark-fest was interrupted by the chirp of one of the soldiers.

"Is Ion here?"

A little girl, about as tall as Anise, with pink hair, a doll-like face and dark clothes, came into view. With all these new faces around, I might just think it's some kind of social gathering.

"We've just captured him. Watch him, Arietta. I'm going to go over to see if the Necromancer still lives."

Legretta ran into the darkened hallway, leaving me with this Arietta person and a bunch of soldiers. Great. Where was Mieu when I needed his company?

"Ion..."

I still felt like spouting snarky remarks after my talk with Legretta.

"Excuse me? Nobody calls me by my first name except Anise."

"Why did you choose her over me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't you recognize me, Ion?"

I thought about it for a bit, trying to pinpoint when exactly I saw or knew this girl.

"Hmm...You're one of the maids who tidys up the cathedral every week."

"What happened to you, Ion? You weren't like this before you got sick..."

"Before...I got sick?"

Oh, I get it now. Mohs told me I had a Fon Master Guardian before Anise filled in the position. She must have been that Guardian, but I don't remember a single thing about her...

"Heh...Sucks to have amnesia, doesn't it?"

"Amnesia? What did they do to you?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I tried. But if you're really my old Fon Master Guardian, why did you leave?"

"Leave? I was transferred to the God-Generals! I wasn't able to see you until now."

What a long time to wait for a guy like me. She must've been my girlfriend or something.

"Sorry, but I'm not legal yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing. But if you really are my Fon Master Guardian. What is the creed of the Fon Master Guardian?"

"Umm..."

"If you can't remember, you have no proof. Therefore, you are not my Fon Master Guardian."

"Err..."

This was going to be quite amusing. It was such a simple sentence, something even a child would remember. I died of laughter inside trying to make this girl guess such a basic motto.

"...I can't remember!"

"Then you have no proof, do you? Just what do you plan to do with me? Beat me to death until I tell you?"

"This is...strange. You definitely don't act like Ion."

"I think that might be because of the noggin, young lady. I don't know anything about what happened to me for the first twelve years of my life. If we had any 'moments' together, I don't know about any of them. Once that message sinks into your head, talk to me again."

Suddenly I heard the sound of commotion below us. Someone was fighting a group of people. Arietta grabbed me and jumped down to the ground.

"O twisted door of distortion, open wide. Negative Gate!"

A large purple-black rift appeared in the middle of the commotion. Legretta picked up her guns and jumped back towards us, pointing them at the other group, which consisted of that weirdo, Tear, Jade, and...Mieu?

"Mieu? Mieu! What are you doing over there?"

"I'm sorry, Master..."

"Arietta, I told you to keep watch over Ion!"

"I am. I took him with me when I saw you under distress."

"Whatever. Just restrain them and..."

All of a sudden, a vibrant yellow streak struck Legretta and grabbed my hand, swinging me over.

"Enter the amazing Guy!"

I looked up at my 'rescuer'. He was tall, had blonde hair, an orange vest with a white shirt underneath, and rugged good looks. He seemed like a fitting rescuer for the Fon Master.

"Aah!"

"Arietta!"

In Arietta's case, she wasn't so lucky. Jade had his spear on her neck.

"Now, drop your weapons once more and go back inside the Tartarus."

Without question, Legretta did exactly as she was told. Jade then turned to Arietta.

"You're next. Take your monster inside."

"Fon Master... I...I..."

"The next time we meet, you'd better be able to say the Guardian Code five times fast if you want me to believe you."

She sorrowfully walked back to the Tartarus with her liger. I could hear the sound of trickling water, not from any river, but from someone's face.

"Let's head for Saint Binah. That's our rendezvous point with Anise."

"Why her?"

"She has a letter of peace for the emperor of Malkuth. We need to get that to him as soon as possible."

"Looks like it's going to be a little longer before I get home..."

"Master?"

I turned around to see Mieu behind me.

"There you are! What were you thinking, being away from me?"

"I had no choice. But I managed to make new friends!"

"Is that so..."

I looked at Tear. She seemed to be the kind of person who would befriend a creature as delicate and precious as this Cheagle. Looks like Mieu was in good hands.

"Well then, the sooner we get this done, the closer I am to home. Come on, Mieu."

"But Master, your wound..."

I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I still was not completely healed.

"I'll be fine."

We made for St. Binah, but before we even made it there, I started feeling a sharp pain in my chest. Each step was agony as blood trickled down my chest and stained my robe. If I were to walk any farther, I would only make things worse. Ironically, the weirdo was the first to notice.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Ion...You used Daathic fonic artes aboard the Tartarus, didn't you?"

"I wish...I was in the middle of healing when the soldiers knocked out the medic. They dragged me out, regardless of how injured I was."

"Let's rest here for a while. At this rate, we risk shortening Ion's life."

"Do you mind if I perform the rest of the healing?"

I smiled softly at Tear.

"...Not at all."

* * *

While everyone made camp, Tear examined my wounds.

"Whoever was healing you did a faster job than I ever could. It may take several minutes to finish closing up the wounds."

"Take as long as you'd like."

It started getting dark outside. The last rays of the sun barely gleamed over the trees, and the pleasant sound of forest insects began to slowly vibrate through the air. The hum of Tear's healing artes blended with the sounds of the forest, making a beautiful symphony of sounds. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly and softly, bending my mouth to a faint smile.

"You're taking this rather well, Fon Master."

"It's the forest. The cicadas are soft and pleasing tonight."

"You have a knack for forest sounds?"

"Not just those, any sound. I can hear many things. Each sound has its own distinct difference in pitch and rhythm, just like how humans are different from other humans. Some sounds can sound similar to others, and very rarely do two things sound exactly the same."

"You speak as if you are an expert in fonons."

"I don't know about that. I've been hearing these sounds ever since I was cured of my sickness."

"Do you know how fonons work?"

"...A little."

"What do you know?"

"Fonons are sound particles that make up everything in the world. There are six types of fonons, each pertaining to a certain element: shadow, earth, wind, water, fire, and light."

"Do you know about the Seventh Fonon?"

"...The fonon of sound, right?"

"Yes, it is sound. You seem to have basic knowledge of fonons."

"I read books in my spare time. That's also how I came to know of Cheagles."

"They are cute, aren't they?"

I stared at Mieu, who was bouncing happily around the campfire the others had made.

"...Yes. Yes, they are."

The sound of healing artes faded away, leaving the cicadas to chirp by themselves.

"Well, that should be it. Try standing."

I sat up, making a mental note of what I was feeling as I got up to my feet. Nothing felt broken, bruised or even remotely aching in pain. I was completely healed, and now I knew who to thank.

"Thank you, Tear."

A small smile of gratitude was drawn on my mouth.

"You're welcome."

She returned the smile. I felt so alive, but I knew that I had to put my energy to rest, since it was nighttime.

"I'll be going to sleep now."

"Why not come sit by the fire?"

"I need my rest. Mohs gave me a curfew and I have to stick to it."

Tear nodded, respecting my wishes.

"Okay. Good night, then."

I lay down on the grass and tried falling asleep. I felt a small blanket laid on me before I dozed off.

* * *

There it is again...the sound of ringing.

No matter how many times they caught me, I came back and watched him fight. It was only a matter of time before he became expressly concerned about why I was there to begin with.

"You like watching me fight, Fon Master?"

I nodded softly, still fearing for my life inside.

"Would you like to learn how to fight?"

I stopped shaking, realizing I had an opportunity. I nodded without hesitation.

"Good. You're a decisive one. That will help you a bit in combat. Come over here."

I walked over to the battlefield.

"First, you need a weapon. You can't really fight without one, now, can you?"

He pointed towards an armory with an arsenal of weapons.

"Go ahead and choose."

I went over to the rack and pulled out a sword. I grabbed the hilt and tried lifting it, but it wouldn't come out. I tried every weapon after that, but I could not lift any of them properly. The man shook his head out of disappointment.

Then, at the bottom of the weapon closet, I found a pair of half-rusted, weighted gauntlets. They weren't too heavy, and they slipped on quite nicely.

"You want to fight unarmed?"

I nodded with a weak smile.

"Know that you run a great risk when you fight with your hands. They can only get stronger, but once you lose them, they are gone forever."

I nodded in understanding.

"I see no reason to stop your determination. We'll begin with the basics."

He stood in a defensive stance and raised his sword.

"Now, come at me!"

I ran forward and jumped up, ready to land a punch. There was a flash of white and the sound of metal clanging.

* * *

When I woke up, there was blood and corpses everywhere. The smell of blood was putrid and did not make for a good wake-up call.

"Ugh...What happened?"

Tear was the first to notice I was awake.

"Fon Master Ion, are you alright?"

Jade began to notice as well, and filled me in on the situation with a hint of a smile.

"We were ambushed last night. Luke over here killed his first soldier today."

The weirdo was shaking nervously at the sight of all these dead people. I played orgel baby music in my head for laughs, and it was quite effective. I laughed out loud, much to the weirdo's dismay.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just...the picture Jade...put in my head..."

I continued to burst out laughing, which had knocked me to the ground, almost out of breath. Tear looked at me with a bit of a frown.

"Fon Master, we should be going."

I gasped for breath, calmed myself down, and stood up straight.

"Phew...Right. Come with me, Mieu."

"Yes, Master."

When we finally arrived on the outskirts of St. Binah, we stopped for some reason.

"Hey..."

Tear put a finger on my mouth.

"Shh!"

I kept quiet, and looked to where everyone was looking.

"Why are the Oracle Knights here?"

You took the words right out of my mouth, weirdo.

"St. Binah's the closest city to the Tartarus. They probably expected us to stop here."

Jade began to notice Guy's knowledge of the surrounding area.

"For a Kimlascan, you're certainly familiar with Malkuth geography, Guy."

"I like reading about vacation spots."

Oh, really? Is that really the reason?, I thought to myself.

Suddenly, Tear pointed in a direction.

"Colonel, look."

I could hear the sound of cart wheels to our right. The cart pulled up next to the gate.

"We're from Engeve. We're here to fulfill a purchase order for food supplies."

The soldier looked at the cart for a bit, then motioned that the cart was clear.

"You may pass."

"There's one more wagon after this one."

The cart moved on ahead without trouble. I saw Jade smirk a bit.

"How convenient."

Guy chimed in, seeming to know where Jade was going with this.

"We're going to stop the second one and hitch a ride, huh?"

I smirked harder than Jade did at this plan.

"Let's go back and steal it."

Jade sarcastically rebuked me for saying such mean-spirited things.

"Steal is such a harsh word."

I played along.

"Commandeer, then?"

Jade seemed to agree, as did Tear.

"Sure, why not?"

"Yes, let's."

We walked back down the path, and I thought I heard the sound of a screaming duck.

* * *

A while later, we were finally in St. Binah. Turns out that lady mayor from Engeve was in that last cart. She recognized us and brought us here. After saying our goodbyes, we set off to find...Anise. This trip is only going to get worse, isn't it?

We went to the Military Headquarters, where we found out that Anise had written a letter to me and that weirdo. I let him open it.

_Dearest Colonel Jade,_ (heart) _I had a really scary time, but I managed to make it here._ (music note) _Don't worry, I'm taking good care of you-know-what! Aren't you proud of me?_ (music note) _It looks like the Oracle Knights are going to close off St. Binah soon, so I'll go ahead to the next location._ (heart) _Is my beloved Luke safe?_ (Oh, I'm so embarrassed! (heart) I just confessed my feelings! (heart)) _I'm really worried. Luke, I miss you so much._ (heart) _I can't wait to see you again!_ (music note) _Oh, and give my regards to Ion, too. Bye-bye for now!_ (music note) _Love, Anise._

Both of us uttered the next sentence in unison. It sounded like a terrible harmony with a clarinet and a poorly-played trumpet.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"So where do we go from here?"

"Kaitzur."

"If we make it there, we can rendezvous with Van."

That name...Where have I heard it before? Apparently the weirdo knew him, too, so there must be some sort of connection...

As we started towards the gate, Tear came running at us.

"...Quick, hide! It's the Oracle Knights!"

We ran off towards the backside of one of the buildings. I could hear a conversation going on, but it was rather faint. I closed my eyes and zeroed in on the conversation.

"...Have you found Fon Master Ion?"

That sounded like Legretta. It sounded like she was talking to one of the Oracle Knights in a commanding, yet slightly desperate tone.

"It doesn't appear he's entered St. Binah."

"One of those people with Ion is the one who killed Mommy... My liger friends told me. I'll never forgive him..."

Oh, right. Crap. I've unintentionally made myself an enemy. But that Arietta girl looked scrawny. I doubted she would be much of a challenge.

"What about that Fon Master Guardian they said was hanging around?"

Wait...That voice...It sounded familiar...

"She appears to have made contact with the Malkuth military. But Malkuth is saying it's "classified" and is refusing to provide any useful information."

At least they didn't catch her. Thank Lorelei. As much as I hated to say it, I could not get back home without Anise, or I would have a lot of explaining to do to Mohs.

"Ahh hah hah hah hah! That's why I told you..."

I left the conversation immediately, covering my ears from the disgusting laugh that I just heard. The seven God-Generals were here. They wanted me for something, but I didn't know what. While the weirdo asked about how politics worked, I left the group and snuck out into the inn, attempting to avoid both parties.

"I'm tired of this nonsense."

The inn was your typical lower-class establishment. Everything was made out of rickety, unpainted wood. The walls, the floor, even the beds were made of it, save for the clean, soft-looking sheets and curtains. It was not the worst place I've ever been to find respite, but even my bedroom looked better than this place. Nevertheless, I walked up to the innkeeper.

"How much for a bed?"

By the time the group figured out I was in the inn, I was fast asleep.

* * *

The sound of ringing prevailed once again as the teacher kept mocking the student's inability to fight effectively.

"Keep trying! You'll hit me someday..."

"Haaaah!"

My fists aimed directly at his vital points, but they were brushed off with a sword stroke and a kick in the chest. I doubled over in pain.

"You're fast, and you can hear fonons quite nicely. But you just don't have the skill necessary to defeat me, or any Oracle soldier. If you want to fight as good as an Oracle soldier, you need to master your artes! You need to tell when an opponent is going to counter. Most importantly, you need to think quickly and react quickly. Come at me again!"

I was sick of his criticism. I just wanted to knock him down. In blind rage, I attacked him again, only to get knocked over again.

"One thing I can say, though, you're persistent. If you still have the strength, come at me!"

I struggled to stand up. I couldn't let him put me down like this. He was going down, or I was going to die. My ears were ringing like crazy, blotting out the sounds of the fonons. But I needed to beat him, at any cost.

I charged at him again, but instead ran around him, drawing a fonic circle as I went. I stopped behind him, ready to use the circle.

"Guardian Field!"

MOTHER OF YULIA! You used my fonic circle!

"GUAAAAAAAH!"

As the freezing light hit my body, my hearing grew dim...

* * *

"GUAAAAAAAH!"

My scream could be heard from as far as the outskirts of town. Everyone awoke at the same time, alert and ready to fight.

"What's going on?"

The weirdo isn't the only one without a clue. But Tear is the first to react.

"Fon Master! You're wounded!"

Indeed, all of my wounds opened up again. ALL OF THEM. Blood trickled like a faucet down my body, staining my robes and the bed in the color of my bodily fluids.

"What's wrong with him?"

Tear quickly stretched out her hand onto my chest and started humming to herself, and the fonons in the room started humming in unison. She was using her healing artes again.

"He has deep cuts all over his torso. The strange thing is, they're all the same cuts I healed last time."

Jade adjusted his glasses.

"Fon Master, can you tell us where you got those scars?"

* * *

"I had these for as long as I can remember. Granted, that isn't very long, and I don't know what happened to me during the first twelve years of my life. I don't even remember being sick."

"What did they tell you?"

"They told me I was sick, and the sickness caused my skin to tear apart. They said I would have died if it weren't for Mohs."

Everyone was quite surprised, except for Tear and Jade. The former had not been showing much emotion during the whole conversation. Maybe it was because she was busy healing my wounds, but then she started talking in a rather serious tone.

"...Mohs saved your life?"

"That's what I was told."

Jade returned to the interrogation quickly.

"Do you believe it?"

"I have no evidence against it."

Jade began to think to himself. Everyone was still trying to process what I had said. Tear, however, knew exactly what to say.

"What if we told you that Mohs was trying to start a war?"

I thought about Tear's response. Mohs was trying to start a war? I...didn't think he would be the type to do that.

"I...don't know. Why would Mohs intend to start a war?"

"To uphold the Score."

The Score...? Why was he fighting to uphold the bane of my existence?

Ah, that's right. The Score was how everything was going to play out, according to the Seventh Fonstone. I had read that Fonstone before, but I didn't understand much of what it said. It was also even more physically painful to read than the regular Score, due to the strain it put on my body. My scars reopened every time I read it. But why would Mohs start a war to uphold that stupid thing?

Guy felt the unnecessary need to explain.

"The Score is the basis of the Order's teachings. If no one followed the Score, there would be no need for the Order."

Jade interjected soon after.

"That's what Mohs thinks, anyway. But a war is the last thing we want, even if it goes against the Score."

"Why is that?"

"Ever heard of human self-preservation?"

"That makes sense."

So Mohs is starting a war, huh? Better go confront him about that when I get home.

"How are my wounds, Tear?"

"Pretty bad. They will take a few more minutes to heal. How do you manage to live with these, anyway?"

"I have a bunch of fonic healers on standby back at home."

I immediately thought of Mira. She was most likely killed by the God-Generals during that ambush. If all this was Mohs' doing...

"Who do the God-Generals work for? Some of them sound familiar."

Tear answered one half of the question.

"They work under Van Grants, one of the highest-ranking members of the Oracle Knights."

"You say some of them sound familiar. Like familiar voices? Some of them hang around Daath often. Arietta has connections there. Legretta has some, too. What, have you never met them before?"

"I'm usually stuck in my room. I get out sometimes, but I never really see anyone important except Mohs."

"Hmm..."

"Something the matter, Colonel?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking to myself."

"About what?"

"About how oddly similar this is to Luke."

"Stop making fun of me!"

I almost forgot that weirdo was here. I heard the sound of healing fonons die down. My chest began to feel fine again, although I could still feel the scars on my chest. I had a feeling those would never go away.

"How do you feel, Fon Master?"

"Pooped. Good night."

I turned over and fell into a deep sleep. Tear looked at Jade.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Perhaps, if you know as well as I do."

* * *

I don't hear the sound of ringing this time. I hear screaming.

My own screaming.

My leg is in severe pain. I scream and cry, but my calls for help are not answered. I shrink from the pain.

"You thought our master could teach you over us? You thought he could teach you to defeat us, let alone him?"

They both kicked me in the legs. My screams became louder until my voice cracked. A small puddle of tears lay next to my face. My vision was incredibly blurry from the tears. I could only make out the hair and the color of their clothes. They...looked like mine.

"STOP!"

Oracle Knights charged in and detained the two green-haired blurs while my medical staff came to my rescue. They tore off my clothes and placed me on a stretcher. My tears were now streaming down onto the stretcher.

Suddenly, all the noises disappeared.

I awoke in my room. I couldn't move my legs, and my arms were sore from fighting. At least I knew one thing.

Two knocks on the door, and then it opened.

"Fon Master? Are you alive?"

He walked up to me and squeezed my leg just a tad.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"Good."

May I be received into the Fon Belt with honor for withstanding this much pain.

"I'm sorry for what happened. I'll make it up to you."

I barely coughed out two words.

"With...what?"

"I can make you like them. You know about the Seventh Fonon, right? I can give you that."

My eyes widened. All I wanted was to fight like this man. I wanted to be worth something to the world. I didn't want to sit here in my room. I didn't want to feel worthless, to need protecting all the time. I wanted to fight.

"However...It will put great strain on your body, and whenever you use it, it will hurt you."

I didn't care. Without hesitation, I coughed two more words.

"Do...it."

* * *

The next morning, we set off for the Fubras River, which led to Kaitzur, the Kimlascan/Malkuth border city. The weirdo kept asking where we were going, what we were doing, and if we were there yet. It got so annoying that I wanted to throw Mieu at him. Jade even had to explain to him how fonons worked in battle.

"Hey, if we're going to stop every two minutes to explain something, I want out of it. Let's get to Kaitzur while there's still day left!"

Jade stopped in the middle of his tutorial.

"If you're so worried about getting home, go on ahead."

Tear, of course, objected to this statement.

"Jade!"

"He's the Fon Master. I'm sure he can make it there by himself."

"But..."

I started walking across the river while they were arguing. I used Mieu to stun any enemies in my path and eventually made it across safely.

"Good job, Mieu."

I fed him an apple gel. He gleefully ate it.

"Thank you, Master!"

"Hey! Wait for us!"

They took their time fighting EVERY SINGLE ENEMY on that river. I walked on ahead without giving a crap.

Suddenly, a liger came out of nowhere and charged at me. I jumped to the side. Everyone was still fighting on the river.

"Stand down!"

That voice...

"You again, huh? Did you memorize it this time?"

"Yes, I did!"

"Good, good. Say it five times fast."

"Umm..."

What I heard was both unintelligible and crazy fast. I don't even know if that was the whole thing, but I could hear similar words to it. When she stopped, she caught her breath from speaking, and I caught my breath from laughing to death.

"Hey, stop laughing at me!"

"...Okay, okay. You convinced me. What do you want?"

"I...I want to help you, Ion."

"Help me with what?"

"You don't remember me, do you? I want to help you remember me."

"Fon Master Ion!"

The group finally finished killing all those monsters and caught up to us. Arietta quickly put on a vengeful face when she caught sight of them.

"...Those people are my enemies. They killed Mommy!"

The weirdo squealed in protest to the animal fanatic.

"What are you talking about? When did we ever do something like that?"

"Mommy's home was burned, so she moved into the Cheagle Woods. She was just trying to protect her children... My brothers and sisters..."

Oops. Looks like I had a lot of explaining to do with this girl.

Suddenly, I heard a rumbling, signifying an earthquake. As the ground shook, purple gas seeped out from cracks in the ground, making an obnoxious hissing noise. Tear shouted a warning to us.

"It's the miasma! Cover your mouths and noses!"

Arietta cried out and then fainted. I did as Tear asked. The weirdo started screaming something.

"What do we do now? We can't run away!"

Tear started chanting something for no reason. Wait...that song...It sounded so...familiar.

A large fonic barrier, shaped much like a hexagonal glass dome, was erected, cutting off the miasma from the surrounding area. After casting it, she turned to us.

"I've applied a vibration identical to the inherent vibration of the miasma. It's a temporary shield. It won't last long."

"Tear...That song..."

Guy interjected.

"Worry about that later. We need to get out of here."

Jade agreed, then proceeded to Arietta with his spear. I didn't need to guess what he was going to do. I ran off to block him.

"Stop! Don't do this!"

"If we let her live, she'll come after us again."

"I need to talk to her. She may know some things about my past. Bring her with us."

After thinking for a bit, Jade put away his spear.

"...Very well. But you must carry her."

I nodded, with a look of determination on my face. I proceeded to pick her up. She actually was not all that heavy, but Mieu still felt like a feather compared to Arietta.

We proceeded to walk further, but Jade made us stop for a moment.

"...Oh, come on. We're almost to Kaitzur. What do you want here?"

Dang it, weirdo! You took the words out of my mouth again!

"It's about Tear's Fonic Hymns. I've wondered about them for a while. Her fonic hymns are different from the ones I know."

I had found good reason to agree with Jade on this one. I seemed to recognize them.

"Yes. They sound...familiar...for some reason..."

"The fonic hymns are those of Yulia."

My eyes widened. I knew that name from the many manuscripts I read.

"Yulia? You mean like THE Yulia?"

Ignoring me, Jade continued with his interrogation.

"How are you able to sing Yulia's hymns, Tear? Who did you learn them from?"

"I was told that it is because my family is descended from Yulia... I don't know whether that's true or not."

"A descendant of Yulia... I see..."

My eyes beamed wide with amazement.

"That's amazing, Tear!"

Tear blushed a bit and smiled.

"...Thank you."

Oh yeah, I'm smooth. But Arietta's body hurt my smoothness a bit. I needed to find a place to set her down.

* * *

"Hey, isn't that Anise?"

We finally made it to Kaitzur's Malkuth side, but I finally remembered that we were supposed to meet Anise here. Lorelei help me...

"Oh! It's my darling! My prince!"

She ran right past me and into the weirdo's embrace. It was the first time I had been surprised in a while.

"Luke! I'm so glad you're safe! I was worried about you!"

Well, at least she has someone else to annoy now. Good riddance.

Just then, I heard a duck squeal. Except...it didn't sound like the weirdo. It sounded deeper than that. A black-cloaked man with crimson hair attempted to jump-attack the weirdo, only to be blocked by...

"You..."

Spiky gray ponytail...Gray coat with white-and-black stripes...Van?!

"Stand down, Asch!"

"...Out of the way, Van!"

"What do you think you're doing? I don't recall giving any orders like this. Now stand down!"

The angry weirdo sheathed his sword and left without question. Van had a conversation with the annoying weirdo that I soon interrupted.

"You!"

"What about..."

As he turned around, he instantly recognized me. His mouth curved upwards slyly.

"Ah, Fon Master. How goes your training?"

I was rather reluctant to speak, as he did not look trustworthy at the moment.

"...It's improved greatly, thanks to you. So you're this Van person I've been hearing about?"

"Ah, yes. I never did give you my name, did I?"

The weirdo was now genuinely confused. What else was new?

"You know each other?"

"Yes, Luke. He was...a former student of mine."

"Former...student?"

"I'll explain more later. When you're ready to listen to me, come to the inn."

Van walked over to the inn. I had forgotten how tense my face was, and loosened it. Tear was a little worried.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't want to listen to anything he has to say."

The weirdo was a little pissed off at my statement.

"What have you got against Master Van?"

"Care to explain, Fon Master?"

Jade propped his glasses back up. Everyone, especially the weirdo, was waiting for my response. I did not want to disappoint them, so I gave a very blunt reason.

"He badmouthed Mohs."

I walked over to the inn, carrying Arietta with me. Everyone else just stood there, dumbfounded by my words.

* * *

Inside the Inn, I put Arietta in a bed and tried applying some healing tonics and mild healing artes. I could not heal her as fast as Tear could, but she was not going to help me. No one would. This was my responsibility. Van was in the corner, watching me nurse Arietta.

"You've grown stronger since we last met."

I continued working on Arietta, ignoring Van's comment. He continued anyways.

"You know, I hoped we wouldn't have to meet like this...You seem to have gotten yourself involved in our politics."

"It wasn't my choice to make."

"Yes, it was. You could have stayed at home. You could have let Arietta take you. You could have not saved the Cheagles. Everything was your choice to make."

"You seem to have made some bad decisions in your life, like me."

"I don't think teaching you was a bad decision. Truthfully, I think you've become a better warrior in a year-and-a-half than Luke has in seven."

"Flattery doesn't work on me, Van."

"No, of course not. You're smarter than that. But I do want to say that I still stand by what I said. What Mohs stands for is wrong."

"That isn't going to change the fact that I don't believe you, or anyone who says that, for that matter."

The humming of healing artes began to cease. I had done all I could, so only time would help her heal now.

"If Arietta wakes up before I do, tell her I'll consider her offer."

I found a bed for myself and fell asleep almost instantly. Afterwards, the inn door opened and everyone walked in.

"Have you calmed down a bit?"

* * *

I hear yelling, but it's not my own.

"You cannot teach him how to fight! He has better things to do than get hurt on the battlefield!"

"Mohs, you're avoiding the situation. You know that the Score no longer matters anymore, right?"

"No, it still does! Those people out there aren't like him! They still need the Score! It's my job to uphold the Score and I will do it by any means necessary!"

"...Then you will do it without me. I'm taking the God-Generals with me."

"You can't do that! They are the property of the Grand Maestro Faction!"

"Not anymore."

"Guards!"

"Out of my way!"

I hear the noise of countless lives being slaughtered by Van's hand. Brilliant lights shone across the room, each flash yielding a scream that soon faded into silence. When all voices were silenced, Van took his leave. Mohs weakly called after him.

"...You..."

"Nice try, Mohs. See you in the Qliphoth!"

I did not know who to trust anymore.

After that day, I never left my room, except on missions and when I was to read the Score. Anise tried to comfort me, but I pushed her away until she gave up. In the meantime, I pushed my body to the limit, becoming stronger and more adept at my preferred weapons of choice. I mastered the art of the fist, as well as the third and seventh fonon. I never looked back...

* * *

"Ion..."

Someone was trying to wake me. I wanted to sleep some more.

"Wake up, Ion!"

Ugh...Anise...Why did it have to be her to wake me? Why couldn't Tear do that?

"...What?"

"The others already left for the border."

I struggled to get up. I rubbed my eyes and turned to the empty bed on my left.

"Where's Arietta?"

"Who cares about her?"

"I care."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, Gloomietta is the enemy."

Like me, Anise has a knack for giving people she hates nicknames. The good news for that is that she does not hate my guts...yet.

"You didn't see her leave? Where did she go?"

"I don't know. She was gone when we woke up."

"I need to go after her. She might know something about me."

I jumped out of bed and ran outside towards the border. The soldier there stopped me.

"Passport."

I quickly handed him the passport Anise gave me.

"May Lorelei be with you, Fon Master."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

I made haste over to the Kimlascan side and showed them my passport. Anise was slowly catching up behind me.

"This way, Fon Master."

"Wait up, Ion!"

Without letting Anise catch up to me, I made it to Kaitzur Naval Port just as the group made it in. I gasped for breath as Guy began to notice my presence.

"Wow. You got here fast."

Everyone else turned around, and Jade began to speak.

"Where's Anise?"

"She'll...be here...in a few...minutes..."

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a liger's cry. Once again, the weirdo was confused.

"...Huh? What's going on?"

"That sounds like a monster..."

The sound of ligers...Could that mean...?

"...! Arietta! I have to find her!"

I ran over to the port area, where one of the ships was burning and...Van had his sword drawn on Arietta?

"Arietta! Who gave you permission to do this?!"

"Arietta!"

Arietta looked up at me. Her eyes widened.

"Ion!"

Van turned his head to see who was behind him.

"You all..."

Tear commented on the scene.

"What happened here?"

Van sheathed his sword and turned to face us.

"Arietta unleashed her monsters on the ship."

"Commandant... I'm sorry... Asch asked me to..."

"Asch?!"

A large flying creature (I think it was called a griffin) swooped down and Arietta grabbed on.

"I have to take away the engineer who can repair the ship. If you want him back, Luke and Ion have to come to Choral Castle. If they don't come... They'll...kill him..."

"Arietta!"

"I'm sorry, Ion..."

She flew away. I tried chasing her, but something hit me and I fell backwards onto the pavement.

"Ow! What is your problem?!"

It was Anise, who completely missed the entire thing. When she recognized me, her expression softened a bit out of respect. Her response, though, was less respectful.

"Oh, it's you, Ion."

"Get out of my way."

I got up and continued to pursue Arietta, by myself. I didn't care about the engineer, I just needed to know who I was and what happened to me. Nothing else. Once I figured that out, I would know who to trust and who needs to die.

* * *

"Monsters...I can feel them."

"I can hear them, too. That doesn't mean I fear them."

I stood at the entrance of Choral Castle, with Mieu on standby in the palm of my hand.

"I'm going to need your help on this, Mieu. It's likely she's not going to listen if they show up."

"Don't worry, Master. I will help you to the end."

"Let's go."

We ran inside the castle, and zoomed past the monsters. I ran up the steps of the castle, with a stone door closing behind me. I ignored it and kept going up to the top, following the liger tracks that covered the stairs.

When I reached the top, I saw what I expected. Both Arietta and the engineer were perched on top of ligers. Two griffins hovered above them.

"Arietta!"

"Ion!"

One of the griffins swooped down and tried to capture me. I saw it coming and dodged. It tried to swoop back and pick me up again, but I used Mieu to set it on fire.

"Ion, what are you doing?"

"Call them off now! If you don't, I'll be forced to hurt them!"

"I can't...Dist and Asch told me to..."

"You don't have to listen to those freaks! You are capable of making your own decisions, Arietta. You want me alive, right? Call off your friends!"

"I'm sorry, Ion..."

"Arietta!"

The second griffin swooped down and tried to capture me. I pulled out Mieu and drew a small fonic circle on the ground.

"MIEU!"

"Storm of flames! Flare Tornado!"

Mieu's fire spun like a drill into the griffin's heart. The violent screech it expelled before it died almost shattered my ears. As it burned to ashes on the ground, Arietta's expression became horrified.

"Ion...Why?"

"Ever heard of human self-preservation? A friend once told me about it."

"But...I don't understand...You've never used Fonic Artes to kill before."

"I decided it would be a useful skill to have. I hate Fon Master Guardians, anyway."

"Who...are you?"

"I am the Fon Master Ion. I am fourteen years old, even though I only remember the past two. Even though I am the Fon Master, I hate being so. I prefer the battlefield."

"You're not Ion...Ion never behaved like that. Ion was kind and caring. He never killed people or animals. But...you look like Ion. What are you?"

"Who says people can't change, especially after getting amnesia? I don't remember being any of that. I don't even remember you. You don't sound familiar either."

"What happened to the Ion I knew? Is he still in there, or is he not there at all?"

"I couldn't tell you that even if I tried. Now, if you're going to capture me again, I suggest you pray to whatever god the ligers worship for mercy, because I certainly won't give YOU any."

"..."

Arietta clutched her doll and thought to herself. In the meantime, Mieu and I whispered to each other.

"Master, are you alright?"

"Yeah. That last fonic arte hurt my leg. I can't run, but I can cast one more arte if I hurry."

All we needed to do was wait for her answer. The sound of ringing returned to my ears as silence fell once again. I could hear the breathing of the ligers, Arietta's uneven breathing, Mieu's tiny breathing, even the breathing over the side of the building. Wait a minute...

"You didn't come alone, did you?"

Arietta said nothing. I angrily turned to the source of the breathing.

"Hey, you, below the building! Show yourself!"

A white-haired freak in a floating armchair rose into sight. His lanky excuse for a mouth was bent downwards, and his glasses gleamed white so that I couldn't see his eyes. But his voice was...indescribably awful.

"So you found me...You have keen ears, Fon Master."

I covered my ears and made a face of disgust.

"Sweet Yulia, is that really your voice? Eugh..."

"HEY! Don't insult my beautiful voice!"

He turned to Arietta.

"What are you doing, Arietta? Why haven't you captured him yet?"

Arietta stood still, still anxiously deciding for herself what to do with me.

"She's trying to decide for herself, you freak. Leave her alone and go get throat surgery!"

"You really want to piss me off, little boy? How about I play a little game with you?"

He snapped his fingers and a giant robot was summoned. I whispered something to Mieu.

"Mieu, are there any healing items in my pouch?"

"Only a couple Apple Gels and a Pineapple Gel."

"Give me an Apple Gel."

Mieu tossed me an Apple Gel, which I quickly ate. My leg started feeling better almost instantly.

"Mieu, I want you to hide in the pouch until the others get here. When they do, tell them what happened to me."

"But, Master..."

"I'm sorry, Mieu."

I snapped the pouch shut and tossed it aside, but not off the roof. I did the same with my robe. I faced the robot and assumed an offensive stance.

"I made this decision on my own, Arietta. Now see where it takes me!"

I rushed toward the robot, yelling and priming my fists for punches. The scene flashed a blinding white. I could hear the screams of an angelic chorus, followed by complete silence.

* * *

"What...happened here?"

The whole roof was covered in scrap metal and flames. As everyone looked around, there seemed to be no sign of Ion or Arietta. Suddenly, Guy spotted something.

"Look, over there!"

The group ran over to where Guy was pointing. They saw Ion's robe and satchel, now partially burnt in the ravaging flames.

"Something's moving in the satchel! Open it!"

Luke cut it open, and out fell Mieu. Mieu shook off the flames caught in his fur and looked up at everyone.

"Everybody!"

"Mieu, what happened?"

"Master told me to tell you..."

As Mieu explained what happened from his point of view, which relied mostly on his sense of hearing since he couldn't see.

"So...Ion's gone."

Anise was the first to cry.

"Ion..."

Tear, surprisingly, was also quite saddened by this scene.

"To think that Dist and Arietta had finished him off like that...How are we supposed to beg for peace now?"

Jade reassured everyone that there was still hope.

"We still have the letter from the emperor, and it has Fon Master Ion's signature on it. As long as we don't lose this, we still have a chance."

Anise wiped her tears, and looked at the smouldering remains on the rooftop.

"Yes. Let's do that...for Ion."

_End of Part 1_

* * *

Hi, everyone! EisenKoubu here. I hope you enjoyed this first part of my first published fanfic. I have this planned to be the first of three, so expect the second part in the near future! If you had problems with my story, I will take any legible and intelligible criticism, since I need all the advice I can get at this point. See you in the next part~!

Update~1/12/15~ : Small grammatical errors and a few incorrect words that I missed have been fixed. Small bits of dialogue have been added in as well to provide clarification on who is speaking during dialogue. Thanks to all my readers for their patience and feedback. Part 2 will be up soon~!


	2. Part 2 : Birth of the Tempest

I hear a voice.

It is a familiar voice, one that I've heard countless times over the past few weeks. It seems to be calling my name, with a gentle and delicate, yet urgent strain.

This voice pleases me. Not in the same way as sound pleases me, but in a different way. This is a voice that sounds willing to follow me to the ends of Auldrant. If I could choose, I would stay here forever.

This voice calls my name, every morning, beckoning me to wake up.

_Ion...Ion, wake up..._

I then feel a soft tug on my back. It continues to get harder and more violent until it is practically tearing my torso from the rest of my body.

"Okay, okay! I'm getting up! Geez!"

I slowly slump out of bed and stand up, drowsy and swerving like a drunkard. The floor is not my own, as it is made of wood. The whole house is made of old, dry wood. Compared to that Inn in St. Binah, it actually looks kind of slapdash. The floorboards are cracked and creak with each step, the walls look a bit rotten, and the ceiling is also starting to crack. If anything, this house needs a little TLC.

I can't see much, but I can see someone smaller than me standing right in front of me, clutching what looks like a small doll. It is a girl, with pink hair, a black variation of what I wore back at the ministry, and the most doll-like face I have ever seen on a girl. This little girl greets me with the softest of smiles as I rise from the dead.

"Good morning, Ion."

"...Good morning..."

"I bought breakfast. You need your strength."

It is bread and cheese. Considering she probably wouldn't eat her own kind, it kind of makes sense. As we eat, few words are minced between us, and a few awkward stares are made.

We are in a small hut near the coast of the southernmost stretch of land in Auldrant. Not the Radiation Gate island, mind you. That place is too cold, too far and too small. I'm talking about the island to the northeast of that, just off the tip of Kaitzur Naval Port. Yes, that island. You're welcome.

Okay, so I had to fake my death. I felt that the others weren't pulling their weight effectively, and I am pretty sure that Anise isn't going to miss me, since she now has that weirdo to hang around with. I also have important things to talk about with Arietta. I can't just ignore her if she genuinely knows about my past. So, here I am.

But...there's something I don't understand. Since Arietta decided to save my rear end, does that mean she's turned her back on the God-Generals and Van?

"...Are you finished?"

Arietta's comment breaks my train of thought. I completely forgot my hunger.

"...Yes."

I put my leftovers in my new satchel. While I am doing that, Arietta stands up and leaves the house to converse with her housemates. I decide now is a good time for a change of clothes, so I pace back into the bedroom.

It has been about three days since Choral Castle, and Arietta had time to find me some new clothes while I was unconscious. Since she did not know what my preference was, the clothes she picked seem geared towards the battle suit I am wearing and my hair color.

To be honest, I kind of like what she picked. The clothes she gave me are mostly black, but they have green outlines. The clothing fit my skinny body almost perfectly. Something I don't understand is the yellow-and-red tags attached to my shoulders and arms. I should ask Arietta about them later.

In my new clothes, I walk out to the stable and proudly show them off to Arietta, who is busy feeding her animal friends. When she turns around and saw me, her eyes widen and her mouth gapes open slightly in amazement.

"Well...how do I look?"

She attempts to speak, but upon closer inspection of my figure, her bright face dims, and she turns away from me. She mumbles her opinion of her clothing choice for me.

"...I was right. It doesn't suit you."

"What are you talking about? I love this!"

She turned towards me slowly, her face showing a hint of surprise.

"...You do?"

"Yeah. Why? What kind of clothes did you think would be perfect on me?"

Her face turns pink with embarrassment. I can hear her shaking. My cocky smile turns into slight concern. I walk over to her and lightly touch her head.

"Are you alright?"

Her head feels hot, like she has a fever or something. She is starting to shake, and her reply is full of stuttering.

"...Y-you're one to talk. Of course I'm...alright."

"You don't sound like it. Your legs are quivering. I can hear the fifth fonon screaming in your direction. You're embarrassed about something, aren't you?"

She starts speaking to me in an angry tone.

"...So what?"

My tone becomes deeper and more serious in response.

"If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you. Then again, you really didn't want to help me, did you? 'Because I'm not Ion.'"

My hand leaves her head. I walk over to the wooden table nearby and sit down, placing my head in my hands. Arietta takes a glance at me, her face slowly returning to a normal color. She then turns her head back to her animal friends and continues to feed them. I speak my mind with conviction.

"I want to go back to Daath."

Arietta turns to me quickly in slight surprise.

"What?"

"I need to find out who I am and what's going on, straight from Mohs. I was hoping you would tell me who I was and what's going on, but that little mouth of yours seems to be sealed tight."

I stand up and make for the window, since Arietta is blocking the door with her animal friends.

"If you can't help me, Mohs will."

I jump out the window and run for the beach leading to Kaitzur Naval Port. I scream out one more sentence before I am out of Arietta's sight.

"Thanks for the clothes!"

And now, Arietta and I are on separate paths. The question is, am I able to find what I need without her?

###

Fon Master Sync: A Tales of the Abyss Fanfiction

Sweet Yulia, I hate the desert.

The dry heat, the rough sand filling my shoes, and the heavy sandstorms...It is a good thing I brought a desert robe with me.

Daath is too far from Kaitzur Naval Port, so I need to take the desert road in order to get there. From there, it will take me to Chesedonia, which will lead me to Tataroo Valley. From there, I will take a direct swim over to the shores of Daath. It took me quite a while to swim here to the desert, but it should not be too much of a problem if I manage to get enough rest in between swims.

Of course, there's also the possibility of running into complete strangers who want to kill you.

"There's one! Surround him!"

A group of bandits surrounds me. I really don't want to fight in this heat, but the situation leaves me with little to work with. I cast aside my robe, and move into a fighting stance.

All the bandits come rushing at me. As they close in on me, I jump and speed-cast Frigid Coffin. The bandits freeze instantly. After landing, I walk over to one casually, speaking in a voice that would stab the heart like knives.

"You know, I've heard frozen objects shatters upon impact with something hard..."

I grab the ice statue's head and rend it off, shattering the body into small ice pieces. Another bandit manages to quickly break out of his ice, and charges at me. I turn around quickly to face him.

"...Why don't we test that?!"

I toss fiercely the frozen head at the bandit, which perfectly collides with his head and knocks him unconscious. The frozen head shattered upon impact, as predicted.

As each bandit breaks out of their ice, I proceed to beat each one of them to the ground, to join their comrade. Blood stains the sand below my feet as each miserable corpse falls. I look at the pile of bodies in disgust.

"What a waste of productive life...A rest in Efreet's furnace would be a mercy."

I do not bother looking for my cloak. I can not waste any time, lest I should miss my chance.

Before long, I make it to Chesedonia, and I take my time to rest in the shade and dump out the sand in my shoes and clothes. Just then, I can see something off in the distance. It looks like a large bird. Upon closer visual and aural inspection, it looks like...a griffin. One of Arietta's, to be exact. I determine if I can take it on as it comes closer.

As it approaches, it swoops down and begins to fly towards me. I stand quickly in a defensive stance and prepare myself for battle. But instead of attacking, it lands in front of me and spits out something a flat white object.

"A letter?"

The winged animal squawks. I tear open the letter and read its contents.

_Ion,_

_I did a little thinking to myself, and I decided that you're right. I can't help you figure out who you are. But I can help you with something else. I've told this griffin to follow you for the time being. You may use him to get to Daath._

_In exchange, I want you to promise me one thing. Please come back when you are done, and tell me who you really are. If possible, tell me where the real Ion is. I would like to talk to him again._

_Good luck._

There is no written signature, but there is a smudge of pink lipstick at the bottom of the paper shaped like a heart. With a slight bit of disgust, I close the letter and put it back in my pocket. I look the griffin in the eyes.

"Stay here. I will come for you in the morning."

I walk into the town, but the griffin tries to follow me in. It looks like she wasn't lying when she told it to follow me. This is going to be harder than I thought.

I am forced to sleep outside the city, since it doesn't take too kindly to monsters roaming about. I fall asleep almost immediately, despite the sand being far less comfortable than a bed. The griffin falls asleep alongside me, but would wake up to even the slightest noises. It would scream at things which felt too loud, and I don't get much sleep because of it.

When I wake up the next morning, I am exhausted. I barely have enough strength to get on the stupid bird, let alone tell it to fly to Daath. Nevertheless, I need to do both in order to get a decent rest.

It isn't long before we make it to Daath. I tell the griffin to wait outside, which it does, to my surprise. I walk in towards the cathedral doors and breathe out a deep sigh of relief.

"...Home."

I push open the large stone doors of the cathedral.

My room...

It is the exact same as I left it. I move around the room, examine everything, and take pleasure in the silence that surrounds the room. There is nothing to bother me, nothing to attack me, and no one to ridicule me. I am home.

I lay in my bed. The sheets were still as comfy as I remembered them. I was about to fall into one of the best sleeps I would have in a long time...

"Who are you?"

I open my eyes and stare at the intruder. He wore all white, with slight hints of silver laced into the cloth. His hat had the mark of the Order on it. I have no idea who he is, so I ask.

"The question is, who are you?"

"I am one of the priests-in-training here. I'm sorry, but the Fon Master's room is not available to tourists. Please leave."

"You think I'm a tourist? I am the Fon Master."

The trainee is as confused as he is experienced. He must have been hiding something.

"That can't be true. The Fon Master is dead."

Now it was my turn to be confused.

"...What? What do you mean, the Fon Master is dead? Where did you hear this from?"

"From Grand Maestro Mohs. He received word from one Colonel Curtiss of Malkuth that the Fon Master was killed by the God-Generals."

So everyone did believe I was dead. Well, that just makes things much more complicated.

"Alright, I'll leave. But first tell me where Mohs is. I must speak to him."

"He is still in Baticul, but he will be here in three days."

"I can't wait that long...Give me a second."

I rush towards the cabinet and open it. I stuff a few things in my satchel and make a run for the window. The trainee rushed quickly to apprehend me, but it was too late.

"Hey...!"

I broke through the window, falling at least two stories, using Turbulence to soften my fall as I landed on the ground. I made a run for the entrance of the city, towards the griffin. I could hear Oracle Knights coming at me, yelling at me to stop. I jumped on my griffin and commanded him to fly. He did so, and we headed off towards the south.

"Take me to Baticul, if you want Arietta to be satisfied."

The beast screeches, and changes its course. I begin to hastily put on the spare robe I took from my room.

"Okay...If you can understand me, griffin...As soon as I jump, head back to Arietta...and tell her...I'll be home for dinner tomorrow. I'll tell her everything then."

The bird screeched in acknowledgement.

A while later, we see the royal Kimlascan city of Baticul straight below us. The charcoal color of the buildings and sheer height of the city is enough to intimidate anyone who dares invade it. It looks secure, but it also looks quite dull and lifeless as a result.

"Take me to where Mohs is!"

The bird swoops around and I eventually see Mohs at the docks behind the city.

"You know what to do."

I jump off the beast and once again used Turbulence to soften my landing. I land a few feet in front of Mohs.

"What on Auldrant...?"

"Grand Maestro Mohs...It's me."

Thankfully, Mohs seems to recognize me.

"Fon Master Ion? But Anise and Tear said you were..."

"I implied it. I was hoping to meet you in Daath without them noticing. But I guess you have other things to attend to."

"We shall talk about this later, once we get to Daath."

Mohs prepares to board the ship, but I block him from doing so, speaking urgently.

"I'm afraid I have no time. Arietta's expecting me back soon, and I need some questions answered."

"Arietta the Wild? Where is she?"

"Answer my questions first. First of all, is it true that you're starting a war to uphold the Score?"

"Fon Master, perhaps we can discuss this later..."

"Answer the question!"

I should not be this tense to the man who raised me to be who I am, but I need those answers. I hold him by the neck, my eyes tense and bloodshot. I stare him in the face like a monster ready to eat his prey. Terrified, Mohs finally gasps the truth.

"...Yes."

I keep screaming at him.

"Why?!"

"The Score is the basis of our Order and the force that moves this world towards a greater purpose. If the people do not follow the Score, they will lose their way and perish."

"But isn't deliberately starting a war a little too harsh? People don't want to die following what some prophecy has told them to do."

"They are necessary sacrifices, Fon Master. They will help pave way for prosperity."

This is bullcrap. This is not the man I respected. What kind of self-righteous idiot believes that? I lower my voice, but keep it tense.

"...Next question. What do the God-Generals want with me?"

"I told them to search for you and bring you back to Daath. You see, I...need you for something."

"What is that exactly?"

"I need you to help me look for the Seventh Fonstone. It will help me decide what course of action to take next."

"Why not just decide that yourself? You're not stupid."

"...You can't say that to me, Fon Master. I'm the Grand Maes..."

I tighten my grip and snarl my last inquiry.

"Last question. Who am I?"

"...What are you talking about? You are the Fon Master Ion."

"No, I'm not. Arietta knows I'm not. A lot of people seem to think I'm not. You seem to know all about me. So I'll ask you again. Who am I?"

"...Fon Master, please don't make me..."

"Make you what? You are in no position to be fooling around with me."

I walk over to the edge of the port, holding his body above the rushing water.

"Now answer my question, or I'll drop you."

Mohs had to think about this for a while. I begin to run out of patience, and start loosening my grip on him. Fearing his apparent fate, he coughs out his final answer.

"...Yes, yes, YES! You are the Fon Master. But you're not Ion."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Barely struggling to hang on, Mohs finishes explaining.

"You are Ion in the sense that you resemble him. But you are not the Ion Arietta knew."

I toss him back onto the port. As he groans from the pain, I walk up to him and grab his fat chin, speaking in a softer voice.

"Then what am I, Mohs?"

"You are...a replica. A replacement. A near-perfect copy of the Fon Master."

I fall on my knees, my eyes widened. I wasn't Ion. I wasn't even the real Fon Master. I am a cheaply-made replacement, used for Mohs' own ends. In the end, I too would be discarded after use, just like the Fon Master.

I feel a hint of anger, but I also feel a slight relief. I was living a lie, but now that I know, I am finally free of it. I close my eyes, and chuckle a bit.

"...Thank Lorelei."

Mohs gazes at me with a confused look in his eyes.

"What?"

I stand up, releasing his chin.

"I hated that stupid Fon Master job. I was meant to be on the battlefield anyway."

I tore off my robe in front of Mohs, then tossed it aside into the sea. Then I looked Mohs in the eyes, a soft smile on my face.

"Thank you, Mohs. I'm finally free."

I jump off the pier and swim as fast as I can across the water, using Turbulence to boost my speed twenty-fold. Just then, the Oracle Knights came in to assist Mohs. Mohs screamed in my direction.

"After him! We can't let him escape!"

Several Oracle Knights came around, chasing after me using boats with Fontech motors attached. Even with my fonic artes, it seems like I am not going to outrun them...

As they inch up to me, I hear a screech. I hear the screams of several Oracle Knights being thrown off their boats and the boats colliding into rocks. I look up and see the griffin Arietta had sent me as it picks me up and carries me off towards one of the flatter rocks. I scream at it as I stand up.

"You idiot! Didn't you go back and tell Arietta?"

The bird shakes its head side to side.

"So you just followed me?"

The beast screeches in acknowledgement. I lower my head and smirk.

"You stupid, obedient bird, you..."

I hug the griffin, which is as cool as you might think, but...

"Ugh, you need a bath. Let's get back home and get you bathed."

The bird screeches, and I jump on. We ascend, and fly off into the distant sunset.

###

The evening sky is a bright shade of orange and pink, as if the sun would never set. The light shimmers as we fly over it. It is a breathtaking sight, especially since I am the one riding. We arrive at Arietta's place just before the sun is completely gone and night begins to set in.

Inside, Arietta is making a big stew with pretty much every ingredient you could use, except meat. When I came in the door, she turns her head towards me, a small smile on her face.

"...You're back."

I nod, a similar smile on my face.

"Yeah. I've got loads to tell you."

"I'm almost done with this soup. Why don't you go change while I'm finishing up?"

"Sure."

I head into the bedroom and take off my jumpsuit. As I change into some more fitting attire, I notice a basket full of makeup and ointments next to Arietta's bed. I wondered what they were for...

"Dinner's ready!"

"I'll be right there!"

I don't know what any of these are...but I suppose it would not hurt if I take one. I leave the room, with a white ointment in my pocket.

As I come out, Arietta and I sit down and say our thanks for the food. She is the first to ask questions.

"So...did you find out who you are?"

"...Yeah."

A minute of us eating later, and I ask a question.

"So...you're not going to ask me whether I'm Ion or not?"

"I know you're not Ion. You can't be. You don't act like him at all."

Arietta keeps saying that I was never like Ion. I keep wondering what kind of handsome pretty boy the original Ion was to her. I decide that this is worth asking.

"What was Ion like, anyway?"

Taking the question seriously, she comes up with one of the sappiest descriptions of a guy I have ever heard.

"He was kind and caring. He taught me everything I know, and protected me to the death. But it was my job to protect him, and I failed."

Yeah, you sure did. Look where he is now.

"He told me I was his only friend. He always smiled, no matter what happened..."

She began to cry. I tried to keep myself from showing my boredom, since I knew what was coming next.

"I didn't want to leave him...I was transferred...I never saw him for a year..."

Blah, blah, blah, gushing, crying, drama...Come on. If Ion is such a nice guy, then it's incredibly apparent how different we are. The way she's describing him makes me sick. It sounds like a wet dream forged from estrogen and over-glorified with sparkles and rose-embroidered portraits. It's disgusting.

"That's enough."

"...Huh?"

"I don't want to hear any more. I get it. I'm different from him. What I don't get is why I was chosen to replace a superstar deity like him."

Did I say that? I just said that, didn't I?

"What?"

"Oops..."

"...R-replaced?"

I'm in hot water now. But then again, I meant to tell her at some point. But...wouldn't it break her weak little heart?

"I...yeah. Ion was replaced...by me."

"...What...does this mean?"

"The Ion you knew...the original Fon Master...he's dead. I was his replacement."

Arietta drops her spoon, whose clanging is followed by a long silence. I could see tears stream down her face as she tries to hold back her crying.

"You're crying..."

Surprised, she wipes her tears away with her sleeve.

"Was he really that important to you?"

"He...He was..."

She stands up, and runs into the bedroom, slamming the door shut. I sit there, trying to gather in what just happened. I knew she could take it, but she took it a little harder than I expected. But I couldn't just lie to her, or anyone for that matter. It would not be right to hide the truth from her.

I figured it is time to leave. I finish my soup, say my thanks, and leave the house.

Outside, the griffin from before came up to me, asking for a petting on his neck. I do so, speaking softly to him.

"There you go. Take care, my friend. It was fun while it lasted, but I need you to stay here and take care of Arietta."

He squawks in reluctance of letting me go.

"I'm sorry, but Arietta doesn't need me anymore. She and I are on two different paths. We just happened to bump into each other at a crossroad."

I stop petting him and start walking away. As I walk, the creature follows me, ignoring my demands to stay behind.

"...Fine. If you really want to be with me instead of Arietta, I'll let you come. Just keep in mind that I'm nowhere near as experienced as Arietta when it comes to animals."

He squawks in acknowledgement.

"You know, you've been a good griffin. I suppose Arietta hasn't named you yet, has she? Hmm..."

The griffin lays down next to me as I think of a name for it. It screeches out into the distance.

"How about I call you...Skreacher?"

The bird squawks in acceptance. 'Skreacher' it is, then.

###

About morning, the two of us set off for Chesedonia for supplies. When I tell Skreacher to wait, he actually does so this time. All I do is gather supplies for my journey. I planned to head to the continent of Sylvana, to an area south of Keterburg. At this point, I don't care where I live, I just want to live how I want. Keterburg seems the safest and most comfortable bet.

I walk out of the gate and then walk up to Skreacher. He seems eager to see me.

"Let's go, Skreacher. We're heading to Keterburg."

"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere, Fon Master."

Two soldiers walk up to me. Both of them look identical to each other, with long green hair similarly styled to each other. Both of them have similar faces, and they wear the same black uniform. They seem to be God-Generals, by the looks of it.

I smirk and look at them with a casual face on.

"And what do you two ladies want with me this fine day?"

Both of them look equally confused for a second. The one on the right speaks up first, looking pretty pissed.

"We're not girls."

"I'm sorry, I must have been fooled by the long hair and choice of clothing."

The one on the right has a worried look on his face. He starts apologizing to me.

"I'm terribly sorry. It's the only uniform they had for us."

"Calm down, Revi. Some people just aren't as smart as others."

That last comment irritates me.

"Excuse me? For all you know, you could be talking to the smartest guy in Daath."

"Does that explain why you're no longer the Fon Master?"

"...I was never the Fon Master. I was only his replacement."

"To us, you are the Fon Master."

Both of them raise their weapons, which look like wooden staves with sharpened ends.

"And Mohs wants you back in service."

"You girls think you can beat me?"

"We know we can. We did it before."

"...!"

I recall the time when I was badly bruised during training by two green-haired freaks.

"So those two were you guys? Looks like we have a score to settle then."

I tear off my desert robe to reveal my battle clothes.

"Okay, ladies! Let's tango."

"You'll regret saying that to us!"

"I'm sorry we have to do this!"

I rush forward at the speed of a liger, attacking the meaner one first. He is quick to dodge, however. He stabs me with his pointy stave, drawing blood from my side. I use a fonic seal to try and heal myself, but the other guy casted speed debuffs to prevent me from attacking quickly. The guy in front of me attacks me with a stroke of his stave, cutting my stomach. I double over in pain and scream. The noisy one yells at me with confidence.

"Is that all you've got, after all these years?"

Unwilling to let that hurt me, I jump backward and insta-cast Ground Dasher. The ground rents upward, knocking him into the air and landing him in front of the other guy. I continue applying healing artes on my side and stomach while the other guy is busy healing. When I stand up, I draw a fonic circle and place a Fifth Fonon seal on the circle.

"Flare Tornado!"

A fierce hot wind blows around me. I cast it toward the two God-Generals, but they get up just in time to avoid the spell. The aggressive one starts coming at me, and I assume a defensive stance. I jump over him and make a break for the passive one.

"Cyclone Shot!"

I spin diagonally upwards, taking him with me. I punch him downwards in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he lands. The other one tries stabbing my back, but I grab the stave and shove it in his stomach. As he backs away and falls backward, I turn to the passive one, who seems to be shaking in fear.

"Looks like I've finally surpassed you."

"My brother..."

He stands up, and starts screaming and crying.

"I'll never forgive you!"

A massive fonic glyph surrounds the three of us. The crying guy's fallen brother staggers right back up, and makes the fonic glyph stronger. I can hear the screams of thousands of souls ringing in my ears. It is so unbearable that I back down and tried to block the sound from my ears, to no avail.

"Revenge is never noble, Fon Master."

"You will never surpass us."

The two of them scream something unintelligible in unison, and the fonic glyph erupts. Several white beams slice through my body like white-hot swords, and I collapse on the ground. I can't hear or see anymore after that.

###

I awake in my bed in Daath. The cool wind from the window next to my bed blows across my face. I feel like I came back from a hospital trip or something like that. I check my arms and chest. There are scars everywhere.

"What...happened?"

I try to remember what happened, but the only things I can remember are the screams of thousands of souls and the smell and taste of blood. Did I kill somebody?

I hear a knock on my door soon afterwards.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Fon Master...Grand Maestro Mohs wishes to see you..."

Fon Master? Grand Maestro Mohs? Who are you talking about? Where am I? Who am I? What happened to me?

"Uh...Yes, just a minute."

I hurry to get a robe on and head out to greet the person at the door.

"Good morning, Fon Master. Please step this way."

"Uh...Sure. Whatever."

We walk down to a large central area, then through a set of double doors into an equally large room. A tall man wearing purple robes and a tall purple hat stands at the end of the room.

"Ah, Fon Master Ion. Come, have a seat."

I unconsciously greet him with a strange handsign that I do not recognize. Then I sit down. The man begins to speak in a rather serious tone.

"Fon Master, there is something you must do for me today. We are to head to Mt. Zaleho and inspect the Seventh Fonstone."

I have absolutely no idea what he is talking about, but I do not care.

"You will have two escorts today. Come in, boys."

"Ow, stop pushing, Zimion!"

Two bumbling bishonen who look quite familiar stumble into the room. Mohs quickly clarifies who they are.

"This is Zimion and Revi. They will escort you to Mt. Zaleho."

The one on the right beams happily and makes the same handsign I made earlier.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fon Master Ion. Sorry we beat yo..."

The one on the left quickly silences him by covering his mouth, then begins to whisper to him.

"You fool! He isn't supposed to know that!"

I can still hear what they are saying, and I tip my head sideways in curiosity. Mohs then talks them off.

"Quiet, both of you! I don't want you to cause any trouble to the Fon Master."

The two of them bow respectfully.

"Yes, Grand Maestro."

He turns back to me, and smirks.

"I wish you good luck."

###

I am taken to an uncomfortably hot area, where I am forced to climb a large stone platform and touch a large green stone. Mohs assures me with a smile that all I need to do is that.

When I climb up, I prepare to touch the stone, but then the ground begins to shake slightly. When it stops, Mohs shouts at me as if he is in a hurry.

"The volcano's going to erupt soon! Hurry up!"

Obediently, I touch the green stone, and it begins to glow.

I can see and hear wonderous things, events that have happened and will happen. I read all these to the three people below out loud. But then these things became louder, and begin to overwhelm me. I cannot speak fast enough to read them all, and it seems like my head is going to explode.

Then I see something. A girl with pink hair and a pale face, being captured and tortured until near-death...I can see a house burning down, animals being slaughtered...what is this? Why am I being shown this?

Just then, the earth shakes once more. Rocks begin to fall, and one of them hits my head, knocking me away from the stone. As I lay motionless, I remember something, and speak it out loud, realizing more and more about myself as I speak.

"I...am Ion. I am...not Ion. I am...not Arietta's. I am...not Mohs'. I am...no one's."

Mohs visibly tells me to get down from the platform, but I can not hear him, even as I stand up. I continue chanting what I saw.

"I am no one's. No one can control me. I am not the Fon Master..."

I raise my hand and a large fonic glyph appears below my feet. The people below me tremble and make a run for the nearest exit.

"The Score holds no power over me!"

I slam my hand into the ground, and the fonic circle erupts, blowing a huge gust of wind towards the sky. I ascend upwards as the volcano erupted, and fly down the slope of the mountain, finally landing with a large splash into the southern inlet.

###

My body drifts unconsciously along the current, eventually winding up on the dry beaches near Sheridan. I do not wake up until I feel something hard poke my chest.

That loyal bird Skreacher found me. I would have done just fine without him, but man, is he persistent. I rub his feathery head as I lay on the hot sand.

"Thank you, Skreacher. Help me up."

After getting on his back, I have to pick a direction. I know exactly where to go.

"Take me to Arietta. I saw something that concerns her. She must be warned."

The bird swiftly and obediently flies off towards Arietta's house.

It is night when we reach her house...or what is left of it.

"No..."

I climb off the bird and run to see the wreckage. The house is nothing more than a ruin of wood and ash. None of the animals she tended to remained. Some pieces of furniture and metal still remain, but very little of it is of any value. Not even the beds survived the carnage.

"This is terrible..."

The griffin squawks a depressive sigh. I turn to the bird, and rub its head to comfort the both of us.

"So, you came."

I turn in hostility towards the voice. It is Van.

"Master Van...Did you do this?"

"No, but I saw the smoke. I figured you would come here."

I lower my guard a bit, but my expression remains hostile.

"What do you want?"

"I want to make you an offer. When I'm done explaining the details, you'll be more compelled to join me, so that we can save Arietta together."

My eyes widen, but then I become suspicious. What makes him think that he can save Arietta? And what does he plan to have me do in exchange?

"What do you want with me?"

"You understand by now that you and Mohs are on opposing sides now. The Score no longer applies to you as a replica, and Mohs wishes to bring about war to fulfill his purposes. Moreover, he wishes to abuse your powers as the Fon Master to read the Seventh Fonstone and follow it to the end."

"Yeah, I know that. What about it?"

"Now, let me tell you what you don't know. The original Fon Master Ion selected you for a specific purpose."

"To replace him as Fon Master?"

"To destroy the Score."

I have to admit, I did not know that. So I was chosen by Ion, the man whose job it was to uphold the Score, to destroy it? Curiously, I inquire further.

"What do you mean?"

"The Score accurately predicted his death at the age of twelve. He confided in me that since he found out about it, he had hated the Score, and wished to see it destroyed."

I have another question, since I have to clarify something that Arietta said before.

"So what's up with him and Arietta?"

"He took in Arietta because she thought nothing of the Score. He initially cared for nothing about her, save that one fact. Then, that one day, when the Fon Master was assaulted by government officials, everything changed."

"What happened?"

"Arietta was gravely injured."

My surprise at this revelation got the best of my choice of words.

"What?"

"Seeing her blood on his hand made him angry, vengeful even. He killed every single one of those people..."

That's quite different from how Arietta portrayed him. In fact, I begin to see this interpretation of Ion in a new light. Maybe...maybe we were not so different than I thought.

"Since then, he and Arietta became closer, until the day he was to die, when he sent her away to be a God-General under my command."

"So, Ion and Arietta...were friends?"

"To Arietta, it seemed closer than that. But to Ion, yes. They were just friends."

So that was why Arietta felt a lot towards him when she spoke about him. Perhaps those feelings warped her view of him to be nothing but positive. It was also why I, or at least the previous me, did not think too much of her.

"So...I guess this means...you want me to fulfill my purpose?"

"Yes. I, too, seek to destroy the Score. And I, too, wish to rescue Arietta."

There is nothing else needed to be said. We are united in cause, despite our differing viewpoints. I walk over to my former master's side, and shake his hand.

"I'm in."

"Good. We will need a new name for you, though. You can't go around calling yourself 'Ion' all the time. And you will need this."

He gives me a gold-plated visor with red streaks on it. It would be perfect for hiding my face. As for my name, I pick out one from my memories that feels obscure enough to conceal my identity.

"Then I will be Sync. Sync the Tempest."

Van takes me to his ship, which he calls the Thalassa. After getting changed into my battle suit, I report to the briefing room, where Van is waiting for me.

"Ah, Sync. You're just in time. Have a seat."

As I walk to my specially-reserved seat (wink), the God-Generals in the room eye me as Van introduces me to them. I don't bother to look at or speak to them. They are not my problem.

"Everyone, this is our newest recruit, Sync the Tempest. He will be in charge of conducting our search for Arietta."

Legretta is the quickest to comment, true to her title. She is visibly unhappy with my recruitment.

"Is this the kid we've been trying to kidnap all this time?"

"Legretta, be respectful to our new recruit. He's gone through some earth-shattering revelations these past few days. Literally, I might add, from what he's told me."

The next to speak is a large bulky man with spiky gray hair. His uniform is also quite black, with red stripes arranged in various patterns. Since he is the only one whom I have not met before in this meeting, he is the most tolerant and polite of the bunch at the table, despite his gruff looks.

"So we've finally got the Fon Master on our side, huh? Pleased to meet you, I'm Largo the Black Lion."

Van is quick to correct him.

"Largo, he's not the Fon Master anymore. He's a God-General now."

Sitting next to Largo is Dist, who I remember from that rooftop confrontation. He looks quite upset upon looking at me.

"I should remind you, Van, that this little squirt owes me a new robot!"

I cover my ears again to purge that horrendous voice from my ears. Van rebukes Dist after seeing my aural pain.

"Quiet, Dist! You'll get your robot."

I say nothing as the conversation continues among Van and the God-Generals. It is not because I am too cool to say anything, but rather because I cannot think of anything to say to these ridiculous people. Either that, or Van answers everything for me.

After a while, Van begins the mission briefing.

"Arietta has been captured by the Oracle Knights, and has been taken to the lower levels of the Daath cathedral. We do not know where in the lower levels they have imprisoned her, which is why Sync will be leading this mission."

Dist immediately objects to the comment.

"Why does the little squirt get to lead the mission? I wanted to have my turn on this mission!"

"Sync knows the entire layout of the cathedral and the best ways to enter in without being caught. I have another job for you anyway, Dist."

Legretta speaks before Dist can retort.

"Who will be accompanying him in the Cathedral?"

"He will be going by himself, but I want you and Largo to be his backup in case he should fail."

Neither Legretta nor Largo looks happy, but unlike Dist, they are more tolerant of Van's decision.

"The operation will begin as soon as we reach Daath. Any questions?"

I raise my hand. All eyes are on me.

"I want Legretta and Largo to come with me."

Van asks me why I want to take them.

"Why is that, Sync?"

"I need distractions to keep the Oracle Knights busy. I may know how to get everywhere, but the security would most likely be far tighter around Arietta than anywhere else."

"We can have Dist monitor your position and report it to them. Then they can take out the guards for you."

I nod in acknowledgement. Dist is still quite angry at me.

Once the operation starts, it doesn't take long before we are in the cathedral. I whisper to Legretta and Largo.

"Take the main path down. I'll follow from another path."

They nod, and I head through one of the doors. I am alone from here on in.

"Lorelei, protect me..."

I sneak my way over to a hallway that is pretty much empty, which led down to a laundry chute near the bottom level of the cathedral. The main problem is that the chute is only barely big enough to fit myself in, so some sort of lubricant would help.

Then I remember something. That bottle I took from Arietta's basket might work. I would need to cake it on and use Turbulence to blast me down like a bullet. After doing so, I end up in a laundry basket already full of dirty garments.

I feel the basket move. Oh, no. I can't be stuck in the fonic washer. I burst out of the basket, using a sleeping needle Van gave me to put the laundry staffwoman to sleep. With that taken care of, I head out towards the lower commons.

It already looks like Legretta and Largo had made their mark here. Several Oracle Knights have fallen already, making my job a lot easier and harder at the same time. Arietta's guard must've doubled since we infiltrated this place.

"Hey!"

Legretta and Largo find me at that moment, complete with small splashes of blood on their clothing. Neither one have any injuries on them at all, though. They definitely earned their reputation as God-Generals.

"Did you have to kill every single one of them?"

Legretta decides to answer my snark seriously this time.

"We had no choice. They spotted us."

I turn to the door that has the most bodies piled up, then point towards it as a reference for my comrades.

"Looks like that one has Arietta in it."

Inside the door is an elegant hallway that is brightly lit and has velvet carpeting. The walls are rather ornate, and have at least five doors on each side.

"We're going to have to open each one."

"Roger that."

The three of us open a door each. The room I find has nothing but piles of treasure worth millions in Gald. I shut the door immediately and try the next one. This one has a guard in it.

"Hey!"

I quickly throw a Fifth Fonon seal, which explodes as soon as I closed the door. When I open it again, the guard is unconscious. Arietta is not in this room either. Just then, Legretta calls from down the hallway.

"This one's locked!"

I run to the door where Legretta is, then call out to Largo.

"Largo! Open this door!"

"Okay."

With a single Beast, he breaks open the door which, sure enough, has Arietta, tied up and gagged against a chair.

"Arietta!"

After the three of us shout in unison, I quickly run to Arietta's side, ungagging her and preparing to cut her bonds. Oddly enough, she seems both happy and confused when she sees us.

"Legretta! Largo! Uh...who are you?"

"I'll explain later. For now, call me Sync."

I cut her ropes, but just as we do so, more Oracle Knights arrive to attack us. Legretta and Largo start fighting them off. Legretta shouts at us from down the hallway.

"Go, Sync! Take Arietta and get back to Van!"

I call back to them with actual concern for their lives.

"But what about you guys?"

Largo shouts back.

"We still have business here with the Grand Maestro! Your mission is done. Go, now!"

I nod and smile.

"Thank you."

I take Arietta and run over to the elevator.

###

As we run to catch up with the Thalassa, we are stopped by Zimion and Revi.

"Stop right there!"

Arietta is aghast to see two people who look exactly like Ion (or me, depending on her point of reference). I have to snap her out of her shock.

"Arietta! Listen to me! They're replicas! They aren't Ion! None of us are!"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, ma'am."

"Shut up, Revi!"

"Arietta! Get ready!"

"Huh? ...Right."

She hugs her doll and prepares a spell. I stand behind her, ready to protect her when necessary.

"Don't let them attack!"

Zimion, being the aggressive one, attacks first, swiping at me with his pointed staff. I quickly dodge, and attempt to counterattack. Revi is also busy casting a spell, but I am too occupied with Zimion to help with that. I just hope Arietta would finish first.

Swipes are being made, and punches are being blocked. Oracle Knights will fall upon us soon. I can only move so far away from Arietta to protect her. Darn it...What am I supposed to do? If I cannot get us back to the Thalassa, I might as well die trying to get Arietta back.

"If I can't protect Arietta...I'll take you all with me!"

The scars on my body begin to bleed as a massive fonic circle forms around me, covering the whole city block. I push aside Zimion, stand close to Arietta, and scream as I strike the ground with my fist.

"Now you die! Akashic Torment!"

The whole area erupts in light, and everything around me, save for Arietta and myself, disintegrates before me. The screams of countless souls rings through the entire area. Every part of my body begins to tear apart...

When the dust settles, Arietta beholds the carnage with surprised eyes and cancels her spell.

"What...?"

The whole city block is in ruins. The bodies of several Oracle Knights have strewn the streets. Her black slippers are soaked in a nearby pool of blood. She turns around to see the source.

"Oh, no..."

With frightened eyes and a horrific scream, she reluctantly beholds what's left of my body. The damage is immense. The gashes that originated from my chest spread to my limbs, to the point where you can almost see the bone. I am almost completely drained of blood. My maskless face is dripping with the stuff. My mouth has formed a rather goofy smile from the loss of blood. If I wasn't dead, I would definitely be in great pain. This scene would frighten anyone, but Arietta almost faints at the sight, accentuated by the fact that she now knows it's me.

"Arietta!"

Legretta and Largo rush to catch Arietta before she falls. When they behold my body, they too are rather horrified. Legretta picks up my body, then turns to Largo, who is holding Arietta.

"We need to take them both back to the ship."

###

It is dark again. I am in the same void as before, without form or a sense of direction. A soothing, comforting sound rang in my ears. I am ready to surrender myself to this tranquil, empty state...

"Sync..."

What is this noise that disturbs my mind? There is a voice calling out to me. It is soft and full of warmth, yet also faint and nigh-unrecognizable. This voice is also rather pleasing, but not in the same way as the sound I am currently listening to. While the sound makes me want to fall into a peaceful sleep, this voice beckons me to cuddle with the speaking individual while in said sleep.

But something about the mixture does not bode well with me. It becomes harder and harder to focus on both sounds as they repeat themselves. I have to choose which one to focus on and drown out the other.

I have nothing to go by. No memories, no background information, nothing. I only have my keen ears to decide. I have to make a choice.

I think of safety as I listen to the sound, and comfort as I listen to the voice. Oh, it is such a hard decision...

Suddenly, the voice changes. I can hear...sobbing. The same word is still uttered, but in-between sobbing. I hear faint whispers of past blames, present circumstances, and future dreams. I cannot make them out, but whomever is crying is crying for someone dear to them. Is it me? Is someone crying because of something I did? If I have tears, I wish I could express the same feelings. But I cannot. I feel like a monster, not having tears to cry with. The soothing sound is beginning to fade into the background...

"Ion..."

The sobbing grows louder, and a new name spews out. Ion? Who is that? Is he the person responsible for this person crying? Whomever this 'Ion' was, I want to strangle him, so this person could stop crying.

I cannot hear the peaceful sound anymore. I can only hear this voice, uttering the same name over and over again amidst tears and sadness.

"Ion...I was wrong about you. I thought you could not be like him...but you were more than that. You're far stronger than he was."

Is she talking to me, or is she talking to someone else? Who is this 'Ion', anyways? An enemy? A friend? A lover?

"If you have any strength left in you, please...come back to me..."

I can see a tiny light, far into the distance. I am curious as to know what it is, but at the same time...I am not sure if I would be safe doing so...

"Ion...please..."

The light grows larger. I begin to fear the light as it starts coming for me. I flee so far that I begin to hear the soothing sound again.

"Ion..."

No! I am not strong enough to handle this! I cannot be! I do not even know what is out there! What if I never come back here? What if...

What if...I never wake up?

"Arietta..."

I remember who the voice belongs to. It is hers. She's waiting for me to wake up...

"Arietta..."

Arietta survived. That makes me happy. But I am still concerned about why she wants ME to come back, of all people. I am a jerk to everyone. I only like living by myself, for myself. Even Arietta, although I was rather merciful to her in comparison to everyone else, also received quite a bit of my cynicism. I thought she hated my guts right now.

But I do not want my death to be in vain. That's why I am happy knowing Arietta survived, yet I died. If I wake up, I would have to face that pain. I would have to face my enemies, and apologize to what little friends I have left.

I do not know why I chose to be nice to Arietta, of all people. Maybe it was because I wanted to know what kind of person the real Fon Master was. Maybe I just liked teasing her, just like I did with Arietta. Maybe I was honoring my sense of duty when it came to individuals, as much as I did not care about them.

No. None of those are the correct answer. I know in my heart that those are not the reasons I followed her to my death. No, the reason I followed her has to be much stronger than death, greater than any reason to live a life in solitude. If I am truly a stronger person, I would have to accept that reason. No matter what trials await me, no matter what pain I would have to endure...

"Arietta..."

"Ion?"

I can hear a response. I am sure of what I need to do. I run towards the light, until it engulfs me...

"Arietta..."

I open my eyes slowly, and turn my head towards her, ignoring the sharp pain that came from doing so. Her eyes are full of tears, not of sorrow, but of joy.

"Ion!"

She jumps up to the table and hugs me. I scream in agony as she squeezes me, and she moves back quickly in response. Her doll-like face is rather unpolished and dirt-covered, and her pink hair looks like she has not combed it in days. She rubs her eyes as she apologizes for surprising me.

"Sorry..."

Trying not to move too much, I make a painful smile.

"It's...alright..."

I cannot see my body, but I know it is in shambles, because every part of it is full of uncomfortable, dull pain. I keep my gaze at Arietta, because she is the only thing keeping my pain at bay mentally.

Just then, Legretta comes in, and in surprise, drops her tray of tools.

"Good...morning...Legretta..."

Even speaking hurt my throat, and I speak in a rather raspy voice. Legretta, in her surprise, questions how I managed to return to life.

"You're alive? How?"

"I...heard...Arietta...call...my...name...I...came..."

Legretta runs out to tell the others the news. Arietta continues to cry, thanks to my response. I wish I could be able to touch her soft-looking face to comfort her, but my arms would not move. Instead, I can only watch her. Man, I feel like such an idiot.

Van and the others come in shortly afterwards to see me in my condition. When he can see that I can move and respond to him, Van laughs heartily, and welcomes me back into the world. My eyes are pretty dry, so I have no tears to shed for this moment. Instead, I have Arietta do the crying for me.

Several painkillers and healing artes later, I can finally move my torso and neck without much pain. My throat is still hoarse, but I can speak with some difficulty. My limbs, in their condition, are completely useless. They would have to be replaced. But Van has an idea.

"Yulia City has the technology necessary to heal your limbs. But it will cause you great pain in your state."

I nod and agree to the operation without any hesitation. Van laughs again, and sits in a chair, feeling like having a good conversation with me.

"You know, you're a strong lad. Your fonons should have separated the minute you died, but here you are."

I nod. It is a rather strange occurrence, not being received into the Fon Belt. Maybe I am not meant to die yet. Maybe there is a reason I am still here...

"You know, Arietta's been watching you ever since they brought you here. She hasn't even had the chance to bathe or sleep in her own bed. She always slept by you as you laid there, motionless. Some of us thought you were actually dead, but Arietta would not believe it."

I think about what it must have felt like for Arietta. I still have no idea why she wants to watch over an idiot like me. As a result, it's hard for me to picture the emotion on her face or thoughts in her head as she does so.

"Why...would Arietta want to...watch over someone...like me?"

Van is rather confused by my question at first, but then he smiles.

"It's because you are special to her, Sync. She loves you. Maybe not in the romantic sense, but she has still grown to care about you, because you went out of your way to be nice to her."

I shake my head. That is not the answer I want. I don't believe it.

"That's not true...I haven't been nice...to Arietta."

Van's smile disappears.

"You sure seemed rather protective of her, at least. If I were Arietta, I would think of that as a kindness."

That's right. I nearly sacrificed my life to save hers. I should have died...I should have returned to the place of my first memories...but Arietta gave me another chance. Another chance to protect her.

"When do...we leave?"

###

Yulia City is definitely a piece of work. The place has a dark aesthetic, much like Baticul, only there is a bit more purple added in. Some sort of light flows in between strange purple lines, like logs floating down a strong water current.

As we land, I am put onto a stretcher carried by Legretta and Largo. Arietta stands on my right side, and Van is on my left. As they walk me down the marble walkway, I can see the massive funnel-shaped ceiling, with a round opening leading up to the sky. Van tells me that the hole is the only way into Yulia City, but there are other ways to get out.

We eventually stop abruptly as I hear the footsteps of what I presume are guards coming to greet us.

"Leave this city, God-Generals! You are not welcome here."

What a harsh reception. Van leaves my side, and goes to speak to the guards. Turning to my left, I can see hostility in the citizens' faces as they glare at us.

"Move aside. We have an injured man to attend to."

"I'm sorry, Vandesdelca, but even you are not allowed here."

"Why not?"

"The Order has fallen apart, thanks to you. A negotiation is taking place in the conference room as we speak about the reformation of the Order."

"We only need medical assistance. We are not seeking to harm the reform of the Order."

"I'll believe it when I see it, Van. Please leave."

He turns his gaze back to Legretta, who is carrying the front end of my stretcher.

"Legretta, show them."

Obediently, she steps aside to reveal my damaged body to the guards. I cannot see the guards' faces, but I can hear their horrified gasps.

"But...I thought the Fon Master was dead..."

Great. Now my identity is exposed. However, Arietta leaves my right side and stands up for me.

"He is not the Fon Master. He is our friend. He saved my life..."

She turns back to me, continuing to speak.

"He may look like the Fon Master, but he's not. He is our friend. And we will fight to save our friends, no matter what it takes."

Arietta is speaking up for me, a guy who does not think much of her in the past, and still does not know what to think of her now. I feel like such garbage, having her rescue me. But I suppose it is justified, considering I almost gave up everything to rescue her.

When the guards see that we are serious, they let us pass. Arietta and Van fill my exposed sides, covering the malicious leering of the people nearby. I turn to Arietta, intending to thank her.

"Arietta..."

She is quick to hush me.

"Don't speak, Sync. Not until you're better."

###

Just as Van said, the procedure to remove my arms and legs is beyond painful.

"GYAAAAAHHHH!"

My screams echo throughout the hall as Van and Arietta sit outside. The other God-Generals are keeping watch to make sure no one attacks us. Every scream makes Arietta cower and shrink in fear. Van tries to comfort Arietta by conversing with her.

"You did good out there, Arietta."

"Huh?"

"I said, you did good out there. It looked like you made him quite happy."

She covers her ears again as the screaming continues. Van asks her a question to get her to calm down.

"Why did you follow him, Arietta?"

As the screams die down, Arietta takes the time to answer Van's question.

"I knew he wasn't Ion, but...he reminded me too much of him."

"Did you love Ion?"

Arietta nods softly. Van smiles.

"So now you love him because of that?"

This time, she begins to deny it with a flustered look on her face.

"N-no, no! I don't love him! He's a jerk!"

Just then, another scream rings out and Arietta cries in harmony as it echoes in the hall. When the scream dies down, Van answers Arietta with comforting words.

"It's okay. Sync knows you feel that way."

"He...he does?"

"Yes. He was quite repentant about it, too."

Arietta hangs her head, then covers her ears and hides her face again as my screams echo throughout the hall. Van continues to talk once the noise dies down.

"I think you should give him another chance. It's your choice on what to say to him, but if you do love him, maybe you should be the one to convince him about it. If not, you can say that straight to his face, and he'll leave. Then you can forget all about him."

Van's words wrack Arietta with guilt. She made such an outburst in order to defend me, and she begins to wonder if she really does like me. She hates me because I am a jerk, but she respects me because I rescued her. She feels conscientiously torn at this decision.

Just then, I walk out of the medical bay towards Van and Arietta, rocking a pair of new arms and legs. They look rather identical to my original arms, except they are laced with a special metal to make them tougher and less easily broken. I breathe a sigh of relief and smile at them, testing out my new arms by waving at them.

"Hey, guys...I made it."

Van stands up and gives me a thumbs-up.

"Ah, Sync. Good job."

Arietta looks at me, and shyly smile and wave as well.

We leave Yulia City in haste, because Van's next plan is about to be set in motion.

Van has taken us all into the briefing room. There are a couple seats emptied, which I presume are Zimion's and Revi's. Asch finally decided to show up this time, and he is rather confused as to why there is someone occupying the back left-hand seat.

"Who's that?"

Before the meeting, Van replaced the visor I shattered back at Daath. Thus, Asch does not recognize me.

"Asch, this is Sync the Tempest. He's our newest recruit."

He takes a quick look at me, then walks over to his seat with an angsty look on his face. Van then begins the briefing on our mission.

"Dist has completed construction of Eldrant, but we are going to need the help of Lorelei in order to propel it."

"How do you suppose we do that, Van?"

"I will go and claim him for myself. Here's how the plan is going to work."

As we listen to his plan, I take a brief glance at Arietta. She has been thinking to herself for quite some time, which makes me wonder if something is wrong with her.

I position myself behind the Tartarus. My objective is to erase the fonic glyph and prevent Auldrant's core from being stopped, thereby allowing the miasma to continue flowing from it. I have to do so before the people responsible for doing this would come back. I eventually find the massive glyph.

"Time to wipe the floor."

Arietta is not with me. After the meeting, she locked herself in her room and refused to come out. It felt rather miserable not having her company, but I knew that was not enough to stop me from working alone.

At last, I clean up the glyph. The next plan is to hide. I can already see Arietta and Van pursuing our targets, so I find the best hiding place and wait.

###

When I eventually find out that we entered the core, I leave my hiding place. I deliberately sound the intruder alarm to get the enemy's attention, then I run for the place where the glyph once was.

Outside, I can hear voices.

"Hey...the fonic glyph Iemon talked about isn't here."

Now is the time to make my grand entrance. I step out from hiding, showing myself to the enemy.

"I erased it for you."

My eyes widen once I figure out who they are, but since they are hidden by my visor, they cannot see my surprise. It is that weirdo and his group. Jade, Tear, Anise, Guy and even Mieu were here, too. There is one person I did not recognize, though. When they saw me, their looks become hostile. The weirdo, who seems to have recently gotten a haircut, is the first to comment on my appearance.

"Who are you, intruder?"

Accepting the fact that they are now my enemies, I assume a battle stance.

"My name is Sync the Tempest. I am the one who carries out Van's plan for a world without the Score, and you are not part of it."

Everyone draws their weapons, and Anise raises a hostile look at me.

"We will see about that..."

Guy and the weirdo attacks first. I blow them back with a quick Turbulence, then I speedcast Thunder Blade. The attack hits Jade and Anise in the back, but then Tear quickly begins to heal the injured party. Such a handicap pisses me off.

"Healing is bullcrap!"

I dash over to Tear and attack her, which gets an angry response from the weirdo.

"Stop hitting Tear!"

Anticipating his attack, I sidestep so that the attack would hit Tear instead. Tear gasps as the weirdo's sword strike slashes open her chest. She falls to the ground, and the weirdo begins to cry over her wounded body. I knock him out for good measure. Two down.

"Feel the power of light! Limited!"

"Not today!"

Anise's spell strikes down where I am, but I jump out of the way and dash over to the archer girl, who also seems to have healing powers. Guy chases after me as I attack the girl, and I attempt the same trick I did with Tear.

"I don't think so! Tempest!"

He jumps over the girl and somersaults over, trying to swipe at me. I dodge it, but he cuts my visor. When it falls off, everyone stops what they are doing and gasps as they see my face. Anise is the first to call out who I am, or rather, what I used to be.

"...Ion?!"

I look angrily at her.

"That's not my name anymore! I am Sync now!"

Anise doesn't want to believe it.

"But...why? Why did you have to attack us?"

"I wondered that, too."

Everyone is rather confused. Jade, aware of my independence, decides to invite me to explain rather than inquire. I explain everything that happened after Choral Castle, as far as I could remember. I speak about Arietta, and how much she wanted to know about the original Ion. Anise is initially rather angry about me visiting Arietta, but as my account continues, her anger slowly subsides. I show them my scars, which have extended out to my newly-built arms and legs.

"This body was not built for combat...That's why I almost died protecting Arietta."

Everyone is quite shocked when I made that reveal. I finish explaining all the way up to how I got here, and I tell them I did not expect them to be here. Anise is on the verge of tears, but tries her best to hide them. Jade then steps forward with a proposal.

"From what you've told us, it looks like Van roped you in to his cause because you both wanted to save Arietta. Would there be any reason that you would want to defect from Van?"

I answer his question bluntly.

"I want to live a life of peace. I only fight because I hate the Score. I want to see it destroyed."

"And do you think Van can guarantee that?"

I tighten my fists.

"I know that he wants the Score destroyed, and that's all that matters to me at the moment. Once the Score is destroyed, and everyone stops giving a crap about it, then I can live the life I want."

"Is there any reason you would want to help us?"

"Do you want the Score destroyed?"

No one says anything. I grow impatient and start yelling.

"Well? Do you?!"

Just then, Tear tries standing up, speaking slowly as she does.

"What Van wants...is wrong. The Score...doesn't need to be destroyed..."

As she finally stands up, she looks me straight in the eye.

"...Ion would not want this."

She's wrong. I know better.

"That's a lie. Ion wanted the Score destroyed."

Everyone is surprised. Anise does not want to believe it.

"That...can't be true..."

"It's true. The original Ion created me to fulfill that purpose. I am the instrument of destruction, born from his hand."

Jade speaks up.

"Are you sure that is what you really want? You don't have to destroy the Score to live a peaceful life."

"What makes you say that?"

"The Order has been demolished. The Fon Master has been officially declared dead. If you don't want to return to Daath, you can live anywhere you like."

Jade's logic is sound. However, there is something missing from the equation.

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because there are still people who want me and Arietta dead."

"Well, then, just fight to keep your peace. That's what soldiers do."

Is that what I am now, a soldier?

"I'm no soldier. I don't fight for anything but myself."

"If that were true, then what was Arietta to you?"

"Arietta's a friend. She's the only thing I've got that's closest to a friend."

"Then what was I to you, Ion?"

"You were annoying."

That is the first time I am ever able to converse my true feelings about Anise to her. It is a pent-up feeling that I finally manage to get off my chest, and it drives Anise to tears.

"But...why?"

"I never liked a single thing about you. You were too cheerful, too dedicated to your job, too...you. I hated you, and I was glad to be rid of you."

Anise continues to sob loudly.

"But you never hated me, and I respect you for that. I would like to ask for your forgiveness."

"...Forgiveness for what?"

"For saying such things to you. If there's anything I regret, it's that I didn't get to say goodbye to you at Choral Castle. It would have been the only kindness I could have afforded you."

"Ion..."

"Please don't call me that anymore. I am Sync now."

"I don't care. You're still Ion to me, whether you like it or not."

She walks over to me, and punches me in the face as hard as she can. I want to hit her back, but I restrain myself. This has to be done to atone for what I've done to her.

Then she hugs me.

"I...forgive you for that, but not for Arietta."

"I'm sorry, Anise."

Our hug abruptly ends when a large noise comes from the core. Guy calls out to the group about the situation.

"We have no time! We need to redraw the circle!"

Tear shouts back.

"But how are we going to do that?"

I step forward, offering my assistance.

"I'll help redraw the circle."

"Why should we let you help?"

"I would like to make this my apology to you all."

Jade agrees to my proposal.

"If that is what you want."

It takes a while to redraw the circle, but I manage to draw it exactly the way it was.

"Good work, Sync."

"It's no problem."

"Now, let's get going."

As everyone leaves, I stand still and look at the circle. Anise begins to wonder why I am not coming.

"Come on, Ion!"

"I...can't."

"Why not?"

"Because...I've betrayed Van and the God-Generals. I've betrayed Arietta. I can't go back and face them. So I'm going to live my last days here, where there's no one to bother me."

"What kind of thinking is that? Are you sure that's what everyone wants? What I want? What Gloomietta wants?"

"I don't care if it's what you or Arietta wants. I don't want to fight anymore. So I'm staying here."

"Anise! We've got to leave now!"

"But..."

"Go, Anise. It's better that you don't end up dying like I do."

"You're such an idiot..."

Anise, reluctantly, leaves my side to escape the ship. Before she leaves my sight, I call out to her.

"Hey, Anise!"

She turns around to answer me.

"Thank you for forgiving me."

She yells back at me.

"I won't forgive you any more if you die like this!"

She leaves for the exit. I am alone...perhaps forever.

As I lay on my back, awaiting the crushing pressure of the core to destroy my entire body along with the Tartarus, I think of Arietta. I keep thinking back to when Arietta's voice brought me back from what could have been an honorable death, which instead turned into a physically painful existence. I let down Arietta by coming here, and doing what I thought was right. I feel pretty pathetic, switching sides like that when I have no idea what any of this means. I am not really invested in how politics worked, or the complexities and details of the benefits and downsides of war. I only care for living obliviously and peacefully.

I do not know exactly what it means to love another as a person. I only know friendship. Romance is a foreign concept to someone like me. When Van told me Arietta loved me, I did not think much of it. I wonder what Arietta would think of what I am doing now.

"Arietta...I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too."

Great, now I am starting to hear voices in my head. But I guess this is what happens to people when they accept their deaths anyways.

"I wanted to say something to you before I passed on. I'm sorry for the things I've done to you. I really am. I wish I had gotten to know what it meant to love a girl as a person, but...I'm just a child. I can't grasp the concept of love, and I know that Ion didn't either. It's a hard fact to accept, I know..."

Tears begin to stream from my eyes.

"...But I can't love you. I'm just a jerk."

"That's not true. You are a good person, Ion. You just have a different way of showing kindness from others. Ion wasn't the same way. He and you are different, even though you look and sound alike. You are the man he could not be, and it would be horrible for Auldrant to lose someone like you."

"You...really think so?"

Now I'm beginning to see things. A very vivid image of Arietta appears in my tear-flooded view. She seems to be smiling.

"I know so...because I love you."

She reaches out her hand to me. I reach to grab her hand, thinking it would just pass through. But instead, I feel something. A soft, warm hand collides with my rough, dry one. I am picked up, and thrown into her very-real embrace, and I cry even more tears when I know she is really here.

"Arietta...I'm sorry..."

"It's okay...It's alright..."

Like a mother comforting her child, I weep in her arms as she rubs her hand softly against my back.

"How did you find me?"

That is my first question to Arietta after our tearful embrace. With a soft smile, she responds.

"Van told me where you might be going. I snuck onto the ship before it took off, and found you when the coast was clear."

I put my head in my hands and groan.

"Anise was on here...I told her everything."

She hangs her head.

"About us...and Van?"

"Well, they also told me things I would have never guessed."

She looks back to me, although she is no longer smiling.

"So, what was your response?"

"I told them I would be staying here, since it would be a peaceful death here."

She shakes her head, and then she looks at me again, her smile returning to her soft face.

"I think it would be much better if you came to stay with me for a while."

"But, your house..."

"It'll be fine. Van found me a new residence in Keterburg. It was a decent price, too."

Keterburg...Isn't that the resort town in the north? That town where there is always plenty of snow? From what I hear, it sounds like a nice place to live.

"Sounds good, but how are we going to get out of here?"

"We'll have to work together for that."

Arietta's plan is to have me draw a special glyph that would blast a strong wind and take us to the surface. She would then draw a circle on top of it to protect us as we burst through the Qliphoth in a field of light. She said Skreacher is waiting above us. It sounds crazy to me, but if it is the only way to get out, I do not want to disappoint Anise.

When both circles are drawn, Arietta wipes her brow. She is beginning to feel the effects of the core's pressure as well, which means we need to leave quickly.

"Are you okay, Arietta?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. Let's get started."

We both stand in the circle, and begin to cast our fonic artes.

"Wind of Auldrant's skies..."

"Light of the solar prominence..."

"Blow forth to carry our troubled souls heavenward..."

I feel the need to hold Arietta's hand. She is a bit surprised at first, but then she returns to chanting her spell.

"Protect our souls as we ascend to thy realm..."

With our hands clasped tightly in each other's, we finish our spells together.

"Seraphic Ascension!"

A large sphere of light envelopes us, and a massive gust of wind pushes us upwards at a massive velocity. My feet is lifted from the ground, as if I am flying upwards of my own accord. I feel scared, but at the same time, exhilarated as we burst out of the core and into the Qliphoth.

As the sphere of light disintegrates, I hear a screeching nearby. We are caught by the talons of none other than Skreacher. The brave bird happily squawks as we ascend once more into the Outer Lands.

As we fly, I ask Arietta where we are going.

"Home."

We fly down to the outskirts of Keterburg, where Skreacher lands and I lay down to rest for a small while.

Arietta decides to spend some time talking to Skreacher while I rest. I look up into the sky, which is a dull gray due to the clouds. A lot has happened today, and I feel like sleeping for at least a week. But then my mind turns to Arietta. What should I do about her? In fact, I still have a question that needs to be answered.

"Arietta?"

She turns to me, seemingly anticipating my inquiry.

"Yes?"

"Why did you come back for me?"

She has anticipated that question, but she is not fully prepared to answer it. She gets lost in thought after embarrassing thought. Then she answers clearly, and sorrowfully.

"I was...deciding whether or not I actually...liked you."

Although I am a little shocked, I also found that answer reasonable. She did seem like she was a little conflicted, and Van did seem to clarify that she did have some feelings for me. But it was also a matter of how I answered them that bothered her and Van. I did not want to reject her feelings, nor did I want to accept them. I thought she was so attached to Ion that she would never let go.

"So, did you decide?"

"...Yeah."

She looks at me, her doll-like face now with bright red spots on her usually-pink cheeks. She comes up to me, leaving Skreacher behind.

"I never thought I would say this to a jerk like you, but...what I said down there was the truth. When I look at you, I see him. I loved him, but I think Ion did love me back, in a way. When you protected me back in Daath, I thought of how he protected me back then."

"Arietta..."

"So, I decided then that I would try to start over. If there's anything you've taught me, it's how to move on and start a new life for yourself. I think...I think I'm going to try that for myself."

Her face comes close to mine, and before I know it, she stakes her claim as my first kiss. Thinking about it now, it feels like we have really come close over the past several days. Maybe it might have happened a little too fast, but it does not matter now, because I love Arietta, and I know that she loves me.

I just hope that marriage expenses aren't high in Keterburg.

_End of Part 2_

* * *

Hello, everyone. EisenKoubu here. Thank you for reading through my story.

Pardon the long wait for this chapter. I had it already finished when I posted the last update for the first part, but I wanted to do some more edits first. I haven't been able to attend to many of the complaints against this story either, because I've been busy with so many other projects. As such, this will likely be the last chapter posted here.

I originally wanted this story to be in three parts, but I have no energy left in me to do another. I don't know. It would most likely take a miracle for me to finish writing out Sync and Arietta's married life, but as far as I'm concerned, this story is finished. Thank you guys for your support, and I pray that this won't be the last thing I post on this account.


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